Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v Goldsmith: did the U.S. Supreme Court tighten up fair use?

This article analyzes the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in *Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith*, focusing on the fair use defense under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act. The Court addressed only the first fair use factor—the purpose and character of the use—holding that Warhol’s commercial licensing of a silkscreen based on Goldsmith’s photograph was not sufficiently transformative to qualify as fair use. The article critiques the Foundation’s narrow legal strategy, which waived arguments on the other three fair use factors, and highlights the ongoing complexity of fair use as a fact-specific, multi-factor inquiry. It also discusses the tension between derivative works and transformative use, emphasizing that labeling a work as derivative does not preclude fair use, and underscores the Court’s rejection of subjective intent or artistic meaning as determinative in fair use analysis.