Jeff Koons Beats Copyright Infringement Claims in ‘Made in Heaven’ Lawsuit
A U.S. federal appeals court upheld a ruling in favor of Jeff Koons in a copyright dispute involving his “Made in Heaven” series (1989–90), finding that sculptor and prop designer Michael Hayden waited too long to sue. Hayden sought compensation in 2021, alleging that his 1988 sculpture—a giant serpent wrapped around a rock made for Ilona Staller (La Cicciolina)—appeared in three Koons works, though he said he only discovered the alleged infringement in 2019. U.S. District Judge Timothy Reif had ruled last year that the claim was time-barred, and the appeals court agreed, stating that a “reasonably diligent copyright holder should have discovered the alleged infringement,” citing the series’ notoriety and its 1990 Venice Biennale showing. Koons’s lawyer declined to comment, and Hayden’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
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This story was covered in Museum Power Shifts and Restitution Manhunts