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Wojnarowicz v. American Family Association

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
745 F. Supp. 130 (1990)

Written by Sarah Holley, JD

Facts

David Wojnarowicz was a multimedia artist focused on raising awareness about the AIDS epidemic within the homosexual community. The National Endowment for the Arts helped subsidize an exhibit of Wojnarowicz’s work, several of which depicted homosexual sexual images. The American Family Association (AFA) (defendant) was a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Judeo-Christian values in American society. The AFA distributed to members of Congress, prominent Christian leaders, and the media a pamphlet that contained unauthorized reproductions of fragments of Wojnarowicz’s work, specifically of the homosexual sexual images, and criticized the use of government funds to subsidize such “offensive” art. Wojnarowicz brought suit against the AFA to enjoin further publication of the pamphlet based on violations of the New York Artists’ Authorship Rights Act, among other claims.

Rule of Law

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Holding and Reasoning (Conner, J.)

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