Fingers crossed. > 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 >
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