Maurizio Cattelan is being accused of copyright infringement by Joe Morford, of Glendale, California, who says Comedian is like his own movie fruit, Banana & Orange, which he made two decades earlier. On his Facebook page Morford wrote: “I did this in 2000. But some dude steals my junk and pimps it for 120k+ in 2019. Plagiarism…?” Both artists stuck their bananas at an angle. Morford also stuck an orange horizontally across another panel. While Cattelan’s buyers paid for instructions on how to install and display a banana, he allegedly argued that, unlike his own banana, the fruit in Banana & Orange is synthetic, so Morford “can’t it has the idea of a real banana taped to a wall.” But US District Judge Robert N Scola Jr ruled that Morford can proceed with its case because “the alleged infringement of Morford’s banana is sufficient, both quantitatively and qualitatively, to state a claim.” He acknowledged, while not stating whether or not he agreed with it, Morford’s argument that Cattelan had access to Banana & Orange as it was on his personal website, as well as YouTube and Facebook, for years. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. In his ruling, Scola wrote: “Can a banana taped to a wall be art? Does art have to be beautiful? Creative? Evocative? A banana stuck to a wall may not embody human creativity, but it can evoke some emotions, good or bad. In any case, a banana stuck to a wall reminds [philosopher] Marshall McLuhan’s definition of art: “anything you can get away with.” He continued: “No one can claim copyright on ideas, so Morford cannot claim copyright on the idea of placing a banana on a vertical plane using duct tape. Not even Morford can claim copyright on bananas or duct tape.” But he concluded: “While using silver duct tape to attach a banana to a wall may not have the highest degree of creativity, its absurd and farcical nature meets the ‘minimum degree of creativity’ required to qualify as original.” Scola acknowledged that “there are only so many choices an artist can make in colors, placement, and angle when expressing the idea of a banana taped to a wall,” adding, “In both works, a single piece of silver duct tape run up left to right at an angle, pinning a centered yellow banana, angled down left to right, to the wall. In both works, the banana and duct tape intersect at roughly each other’s midpoints, although the duct tape is less centered on the banana in Morford’s work than in the Comedian. Michael Daley, director of ArtWatch UK, the art world watchdog, said: “Lord Goodman famously advised that the best defense against a charge of theft is an outright denial – ‘I didn’t take the apple’ – and that anything added – “I don’t like apples”, “I had just eaten” – weakens the case. Cattelan’s lawyers complain that the original stuck banana came with a stuck orange, and Cattelan adds – possibly with a touch of sour grapes? – that the original taped banana was synthetic, not real. Judge Scola rightly sees that while placing real or artificial fruit on the walls singly or in pairs may have little artistic value, the law is the law. This is indeed a very mature controversy.” Cattelan is no stranger to controversy. His works include an 18-karat gold toilet titled America. His lawyers declined to comment and Morford could not be reached.
