Andrea Blanch is a fashion photographer. Blanch took a photograph titled Silk Sandals by Gucci for the August 2000 issue of Allure magazine. Silk Sandals is a close-up of the legs of a woman wearing Gucci sandals, resting on a man’s lap.

In 2000, defendants Guggenheim Foundation and Deutsche Bank commissioned appropriation artist Jeff Koons. As a part of this commission series, Koons, without Blanch’s permission, incorporated the work into a collage painting titled Niagara. Specifically, the painting includes a rotated image of the legs and feet from Silk Sandals without the original background, but combined with images of a variety of pastries, a grassy pasture and Niagara Falls.

Upon seeing Koon’s painting displayed at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, Blanch in 2005 sued Koons, Guggenheim Foundation, and Deutsche Bank (collectively, the "Koons defendants") for copyright infringement. The trial court granted summary judgement in favor of the Koons defendants, finding that Koons’ use of the image from Silk Sandals constituted fair use.  

The Second Circuit affirmed. The appellate court ruled that Koons’ use of Silk Sandals in his collage painting was transformative because Niagara has a “new meaning or message” relative to Blanch’s photograph. The appellate court added that Koons’ work was neither commercially exploitative nor created in bad faith. The appellate court further found that the amount and substantiality of the portion copied were reasonable and that the painting had no adverse effects on the market for Blanch’s photograph. Thus, the appellate court held that in balance, Koon’s use of Silk Sandals is protected under fair use. In doing so, the appellate court explained that the copyright law’s goal of “promoting the Progress of Science and useful Arts” would be better served by allowing Koon’s use of Silk Sandals than by preventing it.

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