Have you taken a picture inside Miami Beach's World Erotic Art Museum? It could cost you at least $2 million. Thomas Hawk claims he's being sued by WEAM after snapping a few photos there and posting them on Flickr. The cheeky museum claims it posted a sign prohibiting flash and professional photography. But Hawk says he didn't see the sign and did not use the flash nor were the photographs used in any professional manor.
Update: The museum says that Hawk misrepresented himself as a member of the media and expects him to settle.
Hawk visited WEAM in March of last year and took hundreds of photographs. The suit claims about 350 of those wound up on his Flickr and says he never asked for permission to take the photographs.
Hawk says he never saw the sign. What's actually particularly strange about this is the suit, or at least the version Hawk posted on his website, never mentions any attempt on the museum's staff part to prevent him from taking pictures.
However, Hawk claims a staffer did ask him about the photographs, and gave him permission to continue.
"One of the employees at the museum in fact approached both me, and my friend Mo, who were taking photos to talk to us about them," writes Hawk on his blog. "He specifically asked me if I was making a book and I said no. He said fine and we continued photographing in the museum at the time."
He also claims he never profited from the photographs, and that Flickr is by definition a non-commercial site. Most of his photographs on Flickr are infact licensed under a non-commercial Creative Commons license.
Oh, and here for fun is the list of artwork photographed listed in the suit:
1. Replica of chair and ottoman belonging to Catherine the Great of RussiaFollow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
2. 8 ft tall fiber glass phallus to be used for customers to take a photo souvenir
3. Swarovski crystal penis, created for opening of the museum
4. 8 ft. bed with 4 phallic bedposts, purchased from artist in Germany, one of a kind
5. Metal sculpture of woman taking a shower, commissioned by Wilzig
6. Telephone wire nude male commissioned by Wilzig
7. Painting of men emerging from female genitalia, commissioned by Wilzig
8. Statue reflecting Naomi Wilzig image on wall, created for her
9. Set of 8 female figure statues, lifelike in lesbian poses
10. Double glass penis by Tom Doner gift to Wilzig
11. Oil, French prostitute street scene, Sylvain Laine
12. Oil, French orgy theatre scene, Sylvain Laine
13. Bronze penis ball, from Hawaii
14. Mata Ortize pottery vase, by Adrian Corona Trillo
15. Erotic Devil jug with phallic spout by Randy Tobias
16. Watercolor titled "Three's a Crowd: by Ken Unsworth
17. Day of the dead skeleton with large penis
18. Painting of male figure with red fingernail hand clutching genital area, by Dulce
19. Bronze statue of a black Eve
20. Quartz slice with erotic figure carved inside by H. Friedler
21. Multimedia wall sculpture titled "perpetual emotion" by Studio Szabries
22. Wall plaque with a hundred vulva sculptures by Doug Johns
23. Sculpture of female with large vulva titled "Leaping Vulva" by Doug Johns
24. Totem pole wood and poly chrome from Pierre
25. Watercolor of male and female centaurs making love, Bud Wehrheim
26. Oil painting of spouting phallus by Tanka Gabriliants
27. Viola sculpted into a female figure, by Andrew Giarnella
28. Drawing of surreal figure pleasuring himself, Daniel Hanequand
