The Supreme Court heard a consequential copyright case on Wednesday, having to do with whether Andy Warhol’s estate owes a photographer a licensing fee for basing his portraits on Prince on one of her works.
A moment that stood out, however, was when Justice Clarence Thomas, posing a hypothetical to one of the lawyers, made a reference to being a Prince fan, “which I was in the 80s.” “No longer?” interrupted Justice Elena Kagan.
The chambers erupted in laughter. “Well,” Thomas said, as he himself chuckled, before pausing and adding, “Only on Thursday night.” “Mmm hmmm,” Kagan replied.
The oral arguments actually were chalk full of pop culture references — one attorney at one point compared Mork & Mindy to Happy Days — given that it is a case that has potential implications over the future of the “fair use” doctrine in copyright law.
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