Jeff Koons Sues Over Balloon Animal Bookends
Artist Jeff Koons claims to hold the rights to all balloon animals and sues San Francisco art gallery over balloon animal-shaped bookends.
Just before Christmas, American artist Jeff Koons, famous for his shiny animal sculptures and for adorning the forecourt of Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art with a giant puppy made of flowers, sent cease and desist letters to San Francisco art gallery and store, Park Life, because they were selling balloon-shaped animal bookends. Not only did he ask them to stop selling them but he also requested that they tell him how many had already been sold and to disclose the maker of the bookends.
After some terse legal words were had, Park Life has shown just what they think of Koons' letter by announcing that the bookends will very soon be back in stock, "much to the dismay of Jeff Koons and lawyers."
While intellectual property and copyright issues are of paramount importance for artists, it makes you question whether anyone, let alone an artist, can claim copyright over a balloon animal. Apparently, just as Cadbury believe they own the colour purple, so Jeff Koons believes he holds the rights to all balloon animals by virtue of dedicating his life's work to making them bright and shiny.
[Via Animal New York]
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