‘massive infringement’

Jeff Koons Accused of Pinching Porn Actress’ Sculpture for His ‘Made in Heaven’ Masterpiece

The aggrieved sculptor claims he only discovered Koons’ “massive,” decades-old copyright infringement in 2019.

Sculptor Michael Hayden is suing the famed artist Jeff Koons for copyright infringement, alleging that Koons’ Made in Heaven series stole from a 1988 piece Hayden made for Ilona Staller, a famous porn actress and Italian politician known as “Cicciolina.” According to the lawsuit, Koons once took sexually explicit photos of Cicciolina atop Hayden’s piece, which depicted a snake slithering around a pedestal. Koons used the images for his infamous Made in Heaven series, which includes images and a sculpture of him and Cicciolina embracing atop the slithering pedestal. The series helped push the little-known Koons to stardom and Hayden now seeks monetary damages and to be credited in references to Made In Heaven.

Hayden claims he was unaware of the decades-old “massive infringement of his own intellectual property rights” until he saw a picture of Made in Heaven in a news article in mid-2019.