Yes, I think its a really good and proactive move, but there are no sure things for fair use. I have no idea how this is going to turn out though I'm obviously for Fairey winning.<br><br>What is interesting is that the original photographer is claiming AP doesn't even own the rights (no work for hire contract signed, etc.):<br>
<br><a href="http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2009/02/10-questions-for-mannie-garcia.html">http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2009/02/10-questions-for-mannie-garcia.html</a><br><br>F<br><br clear="all"><br><br>~ ~ ~<br>
thoughts / <a href="http://fredbenenson.com/blog">http://fredbenenson.com/blog</a> <br>work / <a href="http://creativecommons.org">http://creativecommons.org</a> <br>sights / <a href="http://flickr.com/fcb">http://flickr.com/fcb</a><br>
sounds / <a href="http://www.last.fm/user/mecredis">http://www.last.fm/user/mecredis</a><br>status / <a href="http://twitter.com/mecredis">http://twitter.com/mecredis</a><br><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/2/10 Matthew Senate <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mattsenate@berkeley.edu">mattsenate@berkeley.edu</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Fingers crossed.<br>
<div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br>
> I am glad that this will be heard by a judge. I think there is a<br>
> strong chance that it will be deemed fair use.<br>
><br>
> Seems worth highlighting that the photographer is happy about the<br>
> transformative re-use:<br>
><br>
>>><br>
> [Garcia] added, "If you put all the legal stuff away, I'm so proud of<br>
> the photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it,<br>
> and the effect it's had."<br>
> <<<br>
><br>
> We've seen that before. :)<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> Kevin<br>
><br>
> -<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 3:56 PM, Jacob Caggiano<br>
> <<a href="mailto:Jacob@fishbowlescape.com">Jacob@fishbowlescape.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> From the New York Times<br>
>><br>
>> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/arts/design/10fair.html" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/arts/design/10fair.html</a><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> February 10, 2009<br>
>><br>
>> Artist Sues The A.P. Over Obama Image<br>
>><br>
>> By RANDY KENNEDY<br>
>><br>
>> In a pre-emptive strike, the street artist Shepard Fairey filed a<br>
>> lawsuit on<br>
>> Monday against The Associated Press, asking a federal judge to declare<br>
>> that<br>
>> he is protected from copyright infringement claims in his use of a news<br>
>> photograph as the basis for a now ubiquitous campaign poster image of<br>
>> President Obama.<br>
>><br>
>> The suit was filed in federal court in Manhattan after The Associated<br>
>> Press<br>
>> said it had determined that it owned the image, which Mr. Fairey used<br>
>> for<br>
>> posters and stickers distributed grass-roots style last year during the<br>
>> election campaign. The photo, showing Mr. Obama at the National Press<br>
>> Club<br>
>> in April 2006, was taken for The A.P. by a freelance photographer,<br>
>> Mannie<br>
>> Garcia.<br>
>><br>
>> According to the suit, A.P. officials contacted Mr. Fairey's studio late<br>
>> last month demanding payment for the use of the photo and a portion of<br>
>> any<br>
>> money he makes from it.<br>
>><br>
>> Mr. Fairey's lawyers, including Anthony T. Falzone, the executive<br>
>> director<br>
>> of the Fair Use Project and a law lecturer at Stanford University,<br>
>> contend<br>
>> in the suit that Mr. Fairey used the photograph only as a reference and<br>
>> transformed it into a "stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image<br>
>> that<br>
>> created powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message"<br>
>> from<br>
>> that of the shot Mr. Garcia took.<br>
>><br>
>> The suit asks the judge to declare that Mr. Fairey's work is protected<br>
>> under<br>
>> fair-use exceptions to copyright law, which allow limited use of<br>
>> copyrighted<br>
>> materials for purposes like criticism or comment.<br>
>><br>
>> "Fairey did not do anything wrong," said Julie A. Ahrens, associate<br>
>> director<br>
>> of the Fair Use Project and another of Mr. Fairey's lawyers, in a<br>
>> statement<br>
>> on Monday. "He should not have to put up with misguided threats from The<br>
>> A.P." Paul Colford, a spokesman for The A.P., said on Monday that the<br>
>> agency<br>
>> was "disappointed by the surprise filing by Shepard Fairey and his<br>
>> company<br>
>> and by Mr. Fairey's failure to recognize the rights of photographers in<br>
>> their works."<br>
>><br>
>> He added: "A.P. was in the middle of settlement discussions with Mr.<br>
>> Fairey's attorney last week in order to resolve this amicably and made<br>
>> it<br>
>> clear that a settlement would benefit the A.P. Emergency Relief Fund, a<br>
>> charitable fund that supports A.P. journalists around the world who<br>
>> suffer<br>
>> personal loss from natural disasters and conflicts."<br>
>><br>
>> Mr. Fairey, 38, has become one of the most visible practitioners of a<br>
>> guerrilla-style art that has grown out of the graffiti scene but has<br>
>> expanded beyond paint to include a wide variety of techniques and<br>
>> materials,<br>
>> producing works usually displayed illegally on buildings and signs.<br>
>><br>
>> Mr. Fairey decided to create the image on his own before contacting the<br>
>> Obama campaign, which welcomed it but never officially adopted it<br>
>> because of<br>
>> copyright concerns. Before the election, Mr. Fairey was best known for<br>
>> his<br>
>> fake-advertising stickers and posters, pasted in cities across the<br>
>> country,<br>
>> showing an ominous, abstracted image of the wrestler Andre the Giant<br>
>> along<br>
>> with the word "Obey."<br>
>><br>
>> Mr. Fairey is the focus of a retrospective that opened last week at the<br>
>> Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. (In a development that was not<br>
>> much<br>
>> of a surprise, he was arrested there on Friday, accused of illegally<br>
>> pasting<br>
>> his work in places around Boston; he has pleaded not guilty.) A collaged<br>
>> work made by Mr. Fairey based on his Obama poster was acquired last<br>
>> month by<br>
>> the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, part of the Smithsonian<br>
>> Institution, and placed in its permanent collection.<br>
>><br>
>> After Mr. Obama's victory, speculation increased about which picture had<br>
>> served as the basis for Mr. Fairey's posters. In interviews the artist<br>
>> said<br>
>> that it was one he had found on the Internet. Bloggers, including the<br>
>> Manhattan gallery owner James Danziger, pursued several leads until,<br>
>> according to the lawsuit, Tom Gralish, a Pulitzer Prize-winning<br>
>> photographer<br>
>> for The Philadelphia Inquirer, helped track down a photo by Mr. Garcia<br>
>> that<br>
>> showed Mr. Obama sitting beside the actor George Clooney at a 2006 event<br>
>> about Darfur at the National Press Club.<br>
>><br>
>> Further complicating the dispute, Mr. Garcia contends that he, not The<br>
>> Associated Press, owns the copyright for the photo, according to his<br>
>> contract with the The A.P. at the time. In a telephone interview on<br>
>> Monday,<br>
>> Mr. Garcia said he was unsure how he would proceed now that the matter<br>
>> had<br>
>> landed in court. But he said he was very happy when he found out that<br>
>> his<br>
>> photo was the source of the poster image and that he still is.<br>
>><br>
>> "I don't condone people taking things, just because they can, off the<br>
>> Internet," Mr. Garcia said. "But in this case I think it's a very unique<br>
>> situation."<br>
>><br>
>> He added, "If you put all the legal stuff away, I'm so proud of the<br>
>> photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the<br>
>> effect it's had."<br>
>><br>
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