Art Basel banana artist prevails in copyright lawsuit

• He was sued by California artist Joe Morford, creator of a 2001 work, "Banana and Orange," but prevailed in a case alleging copyright infringement.

The bottom line: Cattelan claimed he'd never seen Morford's work and was expanding off his own idea from 2018, when he'd depicted a banana with red duct tape for a cover of New York Magazine.

• In granting Cattelan's motion for summary judgment, Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. pointed to differences between the artworks, including the background and the angle at which the bananas were placed.