BREAKING: Obamagraphics in the News Again (and maybe even in Court)
President Obama has had a tough week, and it’s not smooth sailing for Obamagraphics, either: the AP has told Shep Fairey “it’s on”:
Fairey has acknowledged [the iconic poster ] is based on an Associated Press photograph, taken in April 2006 by Manny Garcia on assignment for the AP at the National Press Club in Washington. The AP says it owns the copyright, and wants credit and compensation. Fairey disagrees. “The Associated Press has determined that the photograph used in the poster is an AP photo and that its use required permission,” the AP’s director of media relations, Paul Colford, said in a statement. “AP safeguards its assets and looks at these events on a case-by-case basis. We have reached out to Mr. Fairey’s attorney and are in discussions…”
More on the story as it develops. (Thats right, Printeresting is back in the lazy-content business, kids!)
UPDATE 2/5/09: There was an interesting explanation of the relevant fair use issues on All Things Considered tonight, you can hear it at NPR.
Also, everyone should check out the detective work needed to track down the source. Ultimately, this may support Fairey’s claim to fair use; even the photog didn’t know it was his shot. And I’ve linked to this before, but it remains worth seeing: Oba-Meh
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Seriously, AP?
“Fair use is a legal concept that allows exceptions to copyright law, based on, among other factors, how much of the original is used, what the new work is used for and how the original is affected by the new work.”
Yeah, I think Shepard Fairey has this one, though if this ruling goes south (as far as us artists are concerned), it could set a really bad precedent down the road…
Very bad precedent I say. Here are some more arguments surrounding this debate:
http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm
http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/11/intentions-of-shepard-fairey-should-be.html
http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2009/01/shepard-fairey-obey-copyright.html
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/outofline/2009/02/how_phony_is_shepard_fairey.html