College Claims Copyright Infringement of Michelangelo Statues

A South Dakota resident who took photos of two statues by Michelangelo and used them to print three-dimensional models of the works has run afoul of a local college to whom the statues were given in the 1970s, the 3dPrint.com 3D printing news website reported. Source: Bloomberg.

Augustana College, based in Sioux Falls, told model maker Jerry Fisher that the model he made of Michelangelo’s “David” statue was potentially infringing copyrights, according to 3dPrint.com.

One of the statues is on the college campus, and the other is in a Sioux Falls city park, so Fisher went to the city with the argument that the statues are in the public domain, 3dPrint.com reported.

After the city also told Fisher his models infringed copyrights, Washington-based Public Knowledge, a public interest group focused on freedom of expression, weighed in, saying his work didn’t infringe and classifying the college’s infringement claims as “bullying,” according to 3dPrint.com.

Read more HERE (bottom section) | SOURCE: Bloomberg