Green Day Did Not Violate Artist's Rights By Using Image As Backdrop for 2009 Tour, Court Rules

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California ruled Wednesday that Green Day did not violate artist Dereck Seltzer's rights when it used an image of his "Scream Icon" during its 2009 tour. A district court in Los Angeles had already ruled in the band's favor, but Seltzer appealed the decision.

In 2009, Green Day used "Scream Icon" as a video backdrop when they played the song "East Jesus Nowhere" at shows in support of their album "21st Century Breakdown." The image, a black and white image of a face posed in terror, was placed with a large red cross covering it during the show. The image has become a popular graffiti subject for urban artists in Los Angeles, and Green Day reportedly based their stage image on a photo taken on Sunset Boulevard, not realizing it was a copyrighted piece of art. The band reached out with a peace offering, but Seltzer refused.

The court admitted that the case was "close and difficult," but it found Green Day innocent because of the slight additions made to aid its message.

"With the spray-painted cross, in the context of a song about the hypocrisy of religion, surrounded by religious iconography, [the] video backdrop using Scream Icon conveys new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings that are plainly distinct from those of the original piece," wrote circuit judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain, ruling that Green Day's usage was "transformative and not overly commercial."

Still, the band didn't exactly win and Seltzer didn't lose too much as a result. The Appeals Court did overturn Green Day's request for $201,000 in attorney's fees, deeming that Seltzer's suit was not "objectively unreasonable."

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Green Day, Los Angeles