Supreme Court Rejects California Artist’s Copyright Claim Over Banana Taped to Wall

People look at Italian visual artist Maurizio Cattelan's duct-taped Banana entitled "Comedian," during a press preview at Sotheby's in New York, on October 25, 2024

California artist Joe Morford’s legal effort to be recognized as the original creator of the concept of taping a banana to a wall in the name of art has come to an end after the Supreme Court declined to hear his case. The justices’ decision leaves intact earlier rulings that found Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan did not infringe on Morford’s work.

Cattelan’s piece, Comedian, which featured a banana taped to a wall and sold for approximately $6.2 million, became a viral sensation after debuting at the Art Basel Miami art fair in December 2019. Morford argued that Cattelan had copied his earlier work Bananas and Oranges, created in 2000, which featured both a banana and an orange taped to green rectangular panels using plastic fruit.

The case was first reviewed by U.S. District Judge Robert Schola, Jr., in Florida, who ruled in August that Morford had failed to demonstrate that Cattelan was aware of his work or that the two artworks were strikingly similar. Schola noted that while Morford emphasized the similar angles at which the bananas were placed, the limited ways a banana could be taped to a wall undermined the claim.

“There are only so many angles at which a banana can be placed on a wall,” Schola wrote, stating that recognizing Morford’s argument would impose “a significant legal limit on the number of ways that a banana can be taped to a wall.”

Cattelan’s version used a real banana taped directly to a blank wall. The technical details of the piece—including the height of the banana from the floor and the specifications of the duct tape, which must be torn rather than cut—were submitted under seal. One version of Comedian was later sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York to a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur.

Morford, who represented himself in the legal proceedings, maintained that Comedian had infringed on his lesser-known Bananas and Oranges, which he had posted online via Facebook and a blog. However, the judge concluded that simply having an opportunity to see the earlier piece did not prove Cattelan had accessed or copied it, especially given its limited exposure and popularity.

Cattelan testified that his idea for Comedian stemmed from a banana image he had created for New York Magazine in 2018, where a banana was shown hanging from a billboard with red duct tape. He also described testing different placements and angles with the help of assistants before settling on the final concept.

In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Morford expressed frustration with the legal system’s treatment of lesser-known artists. “Yeah, it’s just a stupid banana taped to a wall,” he wrote. “But if copyright is only for works that are popular or successful, then there is no such thing as copyright protection. It is a sham.”