Jeff Koons — the artist who, among more noble credits, has been sued four times for copyright violation, and lost three times — is now suing two businesses for violating his intellectual property and selling bookends in the shape of his Balloon Dog sculpture. The businesses, a gallery and the item’s manufacturer, contend they are just selling bookends in the shape of balloon dogs. Koons does not own the rights to balloon dogs, which, as all clowns know, are in the public domain, and the bookends (at left) are less round than Koons’s sculpture, looking more like casts of balloon dogs than a cast of Balloon Dog. That said, any gallery selling balloon dogs is at least winking, if not outright cashing in on, Balloon Dog. Which dog/Dog will have its day? (Sorry, had to.) We can only wait and see. [NYT]
