Green Day have won a lawsuit brought against them by a Californian artist.
Green Day’s stage show may be lavish, but the superstar punks take an active role in every aspect of their live set up.
Part of the show is the use of a Scream icon, which features an “anguished, contorted face” overlaid with a bloody cross. Designed to highlight religious hypocrisy, its use led to Green Day being accused of a little hypocrisy of their own.
Utilised on their 2009 tour, clearance for the image was apparently not sought from Los Angeles illustrator Dereck Seltzer. Taking the band to court, a judge at the ninth US Circuit Court Of Appeals In California rejected his claims.
Circuit Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain said the case was “close and difficult” but accepted that their use of the image was "transformative and not overly commercial." (via NME)
The judge wrote: "With the spray-painted cross, in the context of a song about the hypocrisy of religion, surrounded by religious iconography, [the] video backdrop using Scream Icon conveys new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings that are plainly distinct from those of the original piece.”
O'Scannlain also pointed out that Green Day did not use the image in their merchandise, while Seltzer himself stated that the value of his work has not been affected.
Green Day have yet to issue an official statement on the verdict.
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