Bank check for $1.00 in damages awarded to David Wojnarowicz resulting from David Wojnarowicz v. American Family Association and Donald E. Wildmon, 1990. Courtesy The David Wojnarowicz Papers in The Downtown Collection courtesy Fales Library and Collections, New York University.
October 25, 1990: In the case David Wojnarowicz v. American Family Association and Donald E. Wildmon, the court finds Donald Wildmon and the AFA libel for $1.00 in damages for misrepresenting David’s work, and enjoins them from further distributing misleading pamphlets, ordering a correction sent to all 6,000 of the initial recipients (including every member of Congress). This marks the first judicial decision to enforce New York’s Artists’ Authorship Rights Act. David insists the damages check (which he never cashed) be signed by Donald Wildmon himself. Listen to David discuss the case with Terry Gross on PBS > >