Green Day Wins Copyright Suit

Graffiti artist Dereck Seltzer filed suit against the band in 2010 alleging Green Day used his “Scream Icon” image in a video backdrop during the band’s 2009 tour without “permission, authority, or consent.”

Seltzer also charged that in using the image, the band had infringed upon his copyright, violated the Lanham Act and engaged in unfair business practices.

At the time, the band countered that its set designer Richard Staub had used the image to create something entirely new for their video backdrop, and a U.S. District Court judge agreed, ruling in the band’s favor.

Seltzer appealed.

In its decision, the appellate panel noted Green Day’s set designer produced a video of a graffiti-covered alleyway featuring several images of Jesus Christ and Seltzer’s “Scream Icon” that are defaced over the course of the piece.

“Although Scream Icon is prominent, it remains only a component of what essentially a street-art focused music video about religion,” the judges wrote, adding the tour’s use of the video backdrop conveyed “new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings.”

Though the court concluded Green Day’s use of Seltzer’s work was fair, transformative and not overly commercial, it also found the artist hadn’t acted unreasonably in bringing forth the suit, and reversed an earlier decision to award the band attorneys fees.