Christian Marclay's new iPhone ad?
In his 1995 film Telephones, artist Christian Marclay spliced together snippets of actors from Hollywood films answering phones. Apple contacted Marclay, he says, to get permission to use the concept for a new iPhone ad (above) that debuted during the Oscars.
He refused. They took the idea anyway.
Contemporary art, of course, is often about appropriation and recontextualizing material, but the brazenness of Apple's move is disappointing. Still, Marclay isn't keen on going to court.
The following mini-documentary on Marclay's work included Telephones about 3:40 in.