A judge has dismissed a 2021 lawsuit against Jeff Koons that alleged his seminal ‘Made In Heaven” series violated copyright protections.
The lawsuit, filed in 2010 in New York’s Southern District Court, accused the American artist of infringing on the copyrights of set designer Michael A. Hayden by depicting his sets and props in paintings, as well as other works, in Koons’ sexually explicit series.
But US District Judge Timothy Reif concluded Hayden’s claim was time-barred and he waited too long to sue Koons as the works were made more than three decades prior.
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The series was exhibited in the 1990 Venice Biennale and received significant media attention from Italian news outlets at the time. “A reasonably diligent person in plaintiff’s position should have discovered the alleged infringement prior to 2019,” Reif wrote in his ruling.
According to court documents, Hayden designed sets and props for Diva Futura, “an Italian production company that produced live, photographic, cinematic and related adult-oriented performances.” The production company was owned by Ilona Staller and Ricardo Schicchi. Staller was a member of the Italian parliament also did erotic performances under the name “La Cicciolina”. Hayden’s sculptures included a 6.5-foot-tall styrofoam work “depicting a giant serpent wrapped around a pedestal of boulders” for La Cicciolina to perform on in 1988. Diva Futura purchased the sculpture for $900.
In 1989, Koons was photographed with Staller in Italy for the series. The images featured a billboard, wood sculpture, as well as oil paintings featuring Koons and Staller in sexually explicit positions on Hayden’s platform; the two married in 1991.
Their divorce three years later prompted long-running and publicized custody fight, which Hayden’s lawsuit cites as the reason he became aware of the “Made in Heaven” works in 2019. Hayden filed an application for copyright registration of the serpent sculpture and platform with the U.S. Copyright Office on August 7, 2019, and filed the lawsuit in New York’s Southern District Court in December 2021.
“It is reasonable to expect that someone who created sculptures and stage props specifically for a “household name” like Staller and who consumed Italian news would hear of her involvement in a major, international art exhibition such as the Venice Biennale,” wrote Judge Reif in his analysis.
Hayden’s attorney, Jordan Fletcher of Fletcher Law, told Reuters that he and his client disagreed with the ruling and intended to appeal.
Koons was represented by Daniel Brooks of the law firm Scarola Zubatov Schaffzin. Hayden was represented by Jordan Fletcher of Fletcher Law and Linda Kattwinkel of Owen, Wickersham & Erickson
The case dismissal was first reported by Courthouse News.
