- Artist Takes Preemptive Move
The Associated Press expressed surprise Monday that guerrilla artist Shepard Fairey sued the news organization over the Obama campaign poster he created, which was based on an AP photo of Obama from 2006. The two sides had been in settlement talks after the AP contacted Fairey last month about his use of the photo, demanding some form of payment from the artist. An AP spokesman quoted in the New York Times article on the suit said that the settlement would have benefited the agency’s Emergency Relief Fund, which supports AP journalists “around the world who suffer personal loss from natural disasters and conflicts.”
Fairey’s lawyers include Anthony T. Falzone and Julie A. Ahrens of the Fair Use Project, which is part of Stanford Law School and offers legal assistance to enhance creative freedom. The suit requests that the poster be declared protected under fair-use exceptions to copyright laws. It claims that Fairey transformed the AP photo into a stunning image “that created powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message.” An interesting wrinkle is that the photo was taken by a freelancer, Mannie Garcia, who claims that he owns the photo’s copyright. Garcia was not sure how he was going to proceed.
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| 05:04 AM Feb 10, 2009 | Email the Daily Dragon | Email this Article | Post Comments |
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