Richard Prince's New Portraits

Richard Prince is an artist of undeniable business acumen: during his last exhibition, at the Gagosian Gallery in New York, he has proudly exhibited his last hard work of conceptual art.

The paintings of Prince are pics taken from the newsfeed of celebrities - as Pamela Anderson and Kate Moss - and common users of Instagram  Some of them have even been sold for over $100,000, making Richard Prince a man particularly gratified by his profession.

So far so good: but the legal repercussions? How is it possible for a person to save, exhibit and sell photographs of other people, not caring for their permission?

All perfectly legal in the USA: through the practice of "retrophotographing", ie changing a few details to the images and adding a personal comment on them, the artist can use the shots as he wants...and the border between copyright and "fair use" of others' works immediately fails.

Be careful of what you post: the photo of your tanned ass hypothetically could become a source of pride for a rich art collector around the world.