AP Out of Cash, Wants Shepard Fairey's Money
 

Obama Poster
Approximately seven months since it first hit the streets, Shepard Fairey's picture of Barack Obama is under scrutiny for copyright infringement. You see, the Associated Press claims Fairey lifted his image off a picture of our president that they owned the rights to, which, fair enough…but why wait until now, when the election is over and the red, white, and blue picture already has a thousand imitators of its own?

Simply enough, money.

The AP says it owns the copyright, and wants credit and compensation…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. We hope for an amicable solution."

You see, if Fairey hadn't eventually been enlisted by the Obama campaign to create more of these images, and if an auction of the "Hope" portrait hadn't sold so well at a recent auction, AP wouldn't give a shit. But since Fairey found the picture off of Google images and never had a deal with the Associated Press, he might end up having to pay up.

Feb 5, 2009 · 14 views (beta) · Link · 4 Responses
Tagged: , ,
Fark Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Del.icio.us Reddit
Comments (4)

No. 1 · Remember

This guy Fairey has made a career out of lifting images that don’t belong to him then passing them off as his own. As an artist myself this is the lowest thing you can do. He doesn’t deserve any support as an artist. You people that believe he doesn’t do this are gravely misinformed and need to do your homework before you embrace your poster boy. Now I see the Obama picture was lifted as well!

Posted: Feb 5, 2009 at 10:06 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 2 · spottsy

@Remember: I don't know what "poster boy" has lifted in the past, but to call the HOPE picture "lifted" is bullshit. This isn't a case of someone making a replica of a piece of art and passing it as their own, the dude used the picture of Obama to create his own, unique art. Obviously he couldn't get Obama to sit in front of him and pose, and even more obvious is the fact that creating a likeness isn't done easily from memory.

I'm not saying that due compensation shouldn't be paid to AP, but I do think it's going a bit far to say "he doesn't deserve any support as an artists".

Posted: Feb 5, 2009 at 1:16 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 3 · Remember

Spottsy.

Here is a little education for you.
http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

Now you know where I'm coming from.
Good artists can indeed get likenesses of people without taking other artists creative work. It's called talent.
If you knew anything about how real art is created then you would change your mind. Real art is created by artists that draw from nature and understand their subject matter, not photoshop experts.The emphasis in the Obama poster is Obama. Without his image there would be no poster. It's your job as an artist to understand the person well enough to draw him or her or take your own photograph of Obama and copy it.

Posted: Feb 6, 2009 at 3:50 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 4 · James

I think the AP will lose this case. Its a piece of art and not a copyright infringement.

Posted: Feb 6, 2009 at 7:19 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
Leave a Comment

It's easier to leave comments when you register for an account. It's quick.

Already have an account? Then log in!

NEW: You can add images to your comment by clicking here and entering the URL of the picture.

 
Scroll Posts
Somali Pirates Exit, Stage Left « Next — Prev » "Shock!":American Idol Promoting One of Its Own
Jossip Home | Advertise | Copyright 2009 Jossip Initiatives