Letter Edged in Black Press, Inc. v. Public Bldg. Com'n of Chicago

320 F. Supp. 1303, 168 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 559, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9066
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedDecember 22, 1970
Docket69 C 353
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 320 F. Supp. 1303 (Letter Edged in Black Press, Inc. v. Public Bldg. Com'n of Chicago) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Letter Edged in Black Press, Inc. v. Public Bldg. Com'n of Chicago, 320 F. Supp. 1303, 168 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 559, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9066 (N.D. Ill. 1970).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

NAPOLI, District Judge.

Plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment invalidating defendant’s copyright to the Pablo Picasso sculpture entitled “The Chicago Picasso.” The defendant is the Public Building Commission of Chicago (Commission) and the plaintiff is a publisher who desires to market a copy of the sculpture. Pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure both parties have moved for summary judgment. Succinctly, plaintiff maintains that defendant’s copyright is invalid because the sculpture is in the public domain. Defendant asserts that the Chicago Picasso has never been in the public domain.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

In 1963 certain of the Civic Center architects, representing the Commission, approached Picasso with a request to design a monumental sculpture for the plaza in front of the proposed Chicago Civic Center. By May, 1965, Picasso completed the maquette (model) of the sculpture. William E. Hartmann, the architect, who had been the chief liaison with Picasso, then had the maquette brought to the basement of the Art Institute of Chicago, without public notice. The design of the maquette was subjected to an engineering analysis to determine the feasibility of constructing the monumental sculpture and three Chicago charitable foundations undertook to finance the actual construction by contributing $300,000 toward the total cost of $351,959.17. An aluminum model of the design with some slight revisions was prepared as a guide to the construction of the sculpture, and Picasso approved a picture of this model on August 9, 1966.

The Commission, through its board, had been given a private viewing of the maquette. Subsequently, the Commission passed a resolution authorizing the payment of $100,000 to Picasso. This sum was intended as the purchase price for the entire right, title and interest in and to the maquette constituting Picasso’s design for the monumental sculpture including the copyright, and copyright renewals. Hartmann proffered the $100,000 check to Picasso and asked the artist to sign a document referred to as the “Formal Acknowledgment and Receipt.” Picasso refused to accept the money or to sign the document. He stated that he wanted to make a gift of his work. In accordance with Picasso’s wish, counsel for the Commission and William Hartmann prepared the following “Deed of Gift” which Picasso signed on August 21,1966:

The monumental sculpture portrayed by the maquette pictured above has beeii expressly created by me, Pablo Picasso, for installation on the plaza of the Civic Center in the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, United States of America. This sculpture was undertaken by me for the Public Building Commission of Chicago at the request of William E. Hartmann, acting on behalf of the Chicago Civic Center *1306 architects. I hereby give this work and the right to reproduce it to the Public Building Commission, and I give the maquette to the Art Institute of Chicago, desiring that these gifts shall, through them, belong to the people of Chicago.

In the fall of 1966 the Commission, the public relations department of the City of Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago and the U. S. Steel Corporation, the latter being the prime contractor for the construction of the sculpture, began a campaign to publicize the Chicago Picasso. The campaign was directed by Hartmann, with help from Al Weisman head of the public relations department of the advertising firm of Foote, Cone and Belding.

As part of the campaign at least two press showings were conducted. The first was held on September 20, 1966, when the maquette was placed on public exhibition at the Art Institute. No copyright notice was affixed to the maquette. The following notice was, however, posted in the Art Institute:

“The rights of reproduction are the property of the Public Building Commission of Chicago. © 1966. All Rights Reserved.”

Press photographers attended the showing at the invitation of the Commission and the Art Institute and later published pictures of the maquette and aluminum model in Chicago newspapers and in magazines of national and internationál circulation. In addition the Commission supplied photographs of the maquette and the uncopyrighted architect’s aluminum model to members of the public who requested them for publication. The second showing took place in December of 1966 when the U. S. Steel Corporation, with the knowledge of the Commission, had completed a twelve-foot six-inch wooden model of the sculpture and invited the press to photograph the model. There was no copyright notice on the model and the pictures were published without copyright notice. U. S. Steel also hired a professional photographer to take pictures of the model and these pictures were used in the publicity drive.

The drive was seemingly successful for pictures of the Picasso design appeared in Business Week Magazine on May 6, 1967, and in Holiday Magazine in March, 1967. Fortune Magazine published three pages of color photographs about the Chicago Picasso including pictures of the U. S. Steel wooden model. The Chicago Sun Times, Midwest magazine published a cover story on the sculpture with a drawing of the maquette on the cover of the magazine. And a picture of the maquette was printed in U. S. Steel News, a house organ with a circulation of over 300,000. None of the photographs or drawings that were published in the above named publications bore any copyright notice whatever.

From June, 1967, through August 13, 1967, the maquette was displayed at the Tate Gallery in London, England. In conjunction with the exhibit at the Tate, a catalog was published wherein a picture of the maquette appeared. Neither on the maquette itself nor on the photograph in the catalog did copyright notice appear. The Commission had knowledge of these facts for on July 6, 1967, Hartmann had sent to the Chairman of the Commission the catalog which was placed in the Commission files.

On August 15, 1967, the monumental sculpture, “The Chicago Picasso” was dedicated in ceremonies on the Civic Center Plaza. The sculpture bore the following copyright:

© 1967 PUBLIC BUILDING COMMISSION OF CHICAGO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

At the dedication, Mr. Hartmann, co-chairman of the event and master of cermonies said:

“ * * * Pablo Picasso * * * as you know gave the creation of the sculpture to the people of Chicago and his maquette to the Art Institute of Chicago.”

The Chairman of the Public Building Commission, in his speech of dedication *1307 to the approximately 50,000 persons assembled for the ceremony said:

“It’s an occasion we’ve all been anticipating — the dedication of this great gift to our city by the world-renowned artist, Pablo Picasso,” and
“ * * * I dedicate this gift in the name of Chicago and wish it an abiding and happy stay in the City's heart.”

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320 F. Supp. 1303, 168 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 559, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9066, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/letter-edged-in-black-press-inc-v-public-bldg-comn-of-chicago-ilnd-1970.