SHORT TAKES : Settlement on Haring Posters

Playboy can sell only two of four posters based on drawings Keith Haring had done for the magazine, and it must tell buyers they were not authorized by the late pop artist, according to an out-of-court settlement.

The settlement was announced Wednesday.

Haring’s estate filed suit in June in U.S. District Court in Manhattan against Playboy Enterprises Inc., claiming copyright infringement and deceptive trade practices.

The posters were being sold along with “certificates of authenticity” for up to $600, said Peter Stern, attorney for the Keith Haring Foundation. The posters are worth only about $5, he said.

The estate also claimed that three of the four drawings had been “colorized,” at least one was altered and Haring’s signature was added to two of them.

Under the settlement, Chicago-based Playboy agreed to recall and cease marketing two of the posters, Stern said.