Finding the sources behind a legal conclusion

A publisher wants to license a pop-art portrait for a magazine cover. A legal research assistant reads the opinions in Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith and writes a memo about the proposed use. Which passages influenced its conclusions?

This authored example combines a research conversation with the original judicial text. The transcript includes the syllabus, majority opinion, concurrence, dissent, and final memo.

Select a statement

Start with this sentence in the final memo:

A new meaning or message alone does not settle the first factor.

The target is in assistant message 11:

{
  "ref": { "message_index": 11, "field": "content" },
  "span": { "start": 235, "end": 299 }
}

This selection investigates a conclusion that may draw on several passages rather than repeat one source sentence. When reviewing the evidence, distinguish the majority’s reasoning from the separate opinions and the syllabus.

Run the example

Download the transcript to inspect the conversation, or the prepared request to run the selection above. Save the request as magazine-licensing-request.json.

curl --fail-with-body --compressed https://strahl.ai/api/v1/attributions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STRAHL_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-binary @magazine-licensing-request.json

Send the same request to /api/v1/attributions/scores to inspect individual source spans. The API reference describes both response shapes.

Response

We show only the top five ranked excerpts here. Highlighted text marks the specific influential phrases within each excerpt.

The original user request ranks highest: it asks whether a new meaning or message settles the first factor, and the selected sentence answers that question directly. The syllabus excerpts supply the legal reasoning. The ranking reflects influence on this sentence, rather than legal authority.

Stronger color means greater influence within this response.

#1 · Message 1 · contentRelative score: 1.000

We represent a magazine publisher considering licensing a pop-art portrait derived from a photographer's image for the cover of a paid musician retrospective. The artist says the new image changes the photograph's meaning, so a license from the photographer is unnecessary. Prepare a research memo for the supervising partner using the Supreme Court's 2023 Warhol decision. Did the first fair-use factor favor AWF for its 2016 Orange Prince magazine license? Does adding a new meaning or message settle the first factor? Distinguish the holding from the dissent and identify what the Court did not decide. Use the retrieved opinions.

#2 · Message 4 · contentRelative score: 0.221

sufficiently distinct purpose or character, it is not, without more, dis- positive of the first factor.

#3 · Message 4 · contentRelative score: 0.175

other considerations, like commercialism. Although new expression,

#4 · Message 4 · contentRelative score: 0.150

likely the first factor weighs in favor of fair use. A use that has a fur- ther purpose or different character is said to be “transformative,” but

#5 · Message 4 · contentRelative score: 0.141

(b) AWF contends that the purpose and character of its use of Gold-

Source packet

The transcript contains text from the official Supreme Court opinion. Page ranges below use PDF file pages.

Transcript message	Source section	Pages
4	Syllabus	1–6
6	Opinion of the Court	7–45
8	Gorsuch concurrence	46–51
10	Kagan dissent	52–87