I am glad that this will be heard by a judge. I think there is a strong chance that it will be deemed fair use.
Seems worth highlighting that the photographer is happy about the transformative re-use: >> [Garcia] added, "If you put all the legal stuff away, I'm so proud of the photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the effect it's had." << We've seen that before. :) Kevin - On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 3:56 PM, Jacob Caggiano <[email protected]> wrote: > > > From the New York Times > > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/arts/design/10fair.html > > > February 10, 2009 > > Artist Sues The A.P. Over Obama Image > > By RANDY KENNEDY > > In a pre-emptive strike, the street artist Shepard Fairey filed a lawsuit on > Monday against The Associated Press, asking a federal judge to declare that > he is protected from copyright infringement claims in his use of a news > photograph as the basis for a now ubiquitous campaign poster image of > President Obama. > > The suit was filed in federal court in Manhattan after The Associated Press > said it had determined that it owned the image, which Mr. Fairey used for > posters and stickers distributed grass-roots style last year during the > election campaign. The photo, showing Mr. Obama at the National Press Club > in April 2006, was taken for The A.P. by a freelance photographer, Mannie > Garcia. > > According to the suit, A.P. officials contacted Mr. Fairey's studio late > last month demanding payment for the use of the photo and a portion of any > money he makes from it. > > Mr. Fairey's lawyers, including Anthony T. Falzone, the executive director > of the Fair Use Project and a law lecturer at Stanford University, contend > in the suit that Mr. Fairey used the photograph only as a reference and > transformed it into a "stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that > created powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message" from > that of the shot Mr. Garcia took. > > The suit asks the judge to declare that Mr. Fairey's work is protected under > fair-use exceptions to copyright law, which allow limited use of copyrighted > materials for purposes like criticism or comment. > > "Fairey did not do anything wrong," said Julie A. Ahrens, associate director > of the Fair Use Project and another of Mr. Fairey's lawyers, in a statement > on Monday. "He should not have to put up with misguided threats from The > A.P." Paul Colford, a spokesman for The A.P., said on Monday that the agency > was "disappointed by the surprise filing by Shepard Fairey and his company > and by Mr. Fairey's failure to recognize the rights of photographers in > their works." > > He added: "A.P. was in the middle of settlement discussions with Mr. > Fairey's attorney last week in order to resolve this amicably and made it > clear that a settlement would benefit the A.P. Emergency Relief Fund, a > charitable fund that supports A.P. journalists around the world who suffer > personal loss from natural disasters and conflicts." > > Mr. Fairey, 38, has become one of the most visible practitioners of a > guerrilla-style art that has grown out of the graffiti scene but has > expanded beyond paint to include a wide variety of techniques and materials, > producing works usually displayed illegally on buildings and signs. > > Mr. Fairey decided to create the image on his own before contacting the > Obama campaign, which welcomed it but never officially adopted it because of > copyright concerns. Before the election, Mr. Fairey was best known for his > fake-advertising stickers and posters, pasted in cities across the country, > showing an ominous, abstracted image of the wrestler Andre the Giant along > with the word "Obey." > > Mr. Fairey is the focus of a retrospective that opened last week at the > Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. (In a development that was not much > of a surprise, he was arrested there on Friday, accused of illegally pasting > his work in places around Boston; he has pleaded not guilty.) A collaged > work made by Mr. Fairey based on his Obama poster was acquired last month by > the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, part of the Smithsonian > Institution, and placed in its permanent collection. > > After Mr. Obama's victory, speculation increased about which picture had > served as the basis for Mr. Fairey's posters. In interviews the artist said > that it was one he had found on the Internet. Bloggers, including the > Manhattan gallery owner James Danziger, pursued several leads until, > according to the lawsuit, Tom Gralish, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer > for The Philadelphia Inquirer, helped track down a photo by Mr. Garcia that > showed Mr. Obama sitting beside the actor George Clooney at a 2006 event > about Darfur at the National Press Club. > > Further complicating the dispute, Mr. Garcia contends that he, not The > Associated Press, owns the copyright for the photo, according to his > contract with the The A.P. at the time. In a telephone interview on Monday, > Mr. Garcia said he was unsure how he would proceed now that the matter had > landed in court. But he said he was very happy when he found out that his > photo was the source of the poster image and that he still is. > > "I don't condone people taking things, just because they can, off the > Internet," Mr. Garcia said. "But in this case I think it's a very unique > situation." > > He added, "If you put all the legal stuff away, I'm so proud of the > photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the > effect it's had." > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > > _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
