John Galliano has been found guilty of plagiarism by a French court; after using a US photographer’s art without permission.
Fashion designer John Galliano’s company was ordered to pay 200,000 euros in damages to renowned U.S. photographer William Klein for unauthorized use of his atmospheric imagery in an advertising campaign.
The photographer, who lives in France said he was “furious” at Galliano’s use of some of his half-painted photographs of street scenes in advertisements in several fashion magazines.
Klein’s giant versions of contact sheets showing a series of photographs, painted over in colored enamel to highlight particular images, were a popular feature of a recent exhibition at the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
The court of first instance in Paris said Klein’s “painted contacts” were a hallmark of his work and Galliano’s use of imagery was clearly illegal in the absence of authorization from the photographer.
It ordered the designer to pay 150,000 euros to compensate for abuse of Klein’s rights as author and 50,000 euros in damages to the image of the work that resulted from the poor quality of the reproductions.
Galliano said it would appeal the ruling with the aim of reducing the fine as it rejected the allegation its campaign could be considered “counterfeiting.”
