“Image appropriation is a genre of art that is often questioned for its originality and ethics. […] Image appropriators like Sherrie Levine, , who credits the original photographer of her reproductions with titles like ‘After Walker Evans,’ etc., breathe new life into artworks that many might not otherwise see. Levine has appropriated photographs by Walker Evans and Edward Weston, sculptures by Constantin Brancusi and Marcel Duchamp, and paintings by Vincent van Gogh, among others.”

I’m not that sure I would agree with the “new life” bit there. However, here’s a little stinger: “Duchamp, along with Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Cindy Sherman, has also appropriated work from various media.” So what are we to make out of this?

This page looks like it was set up for law students, but it contains lots and lots of links, some to legal pages, some to actual art work. So what about Warhol’s Micky Mouse? Or Thomas Ruff’s manipulations? And is the law really the appropriate means to deal with this kind of stuff?
(thanks, Harlan!)