Obama artist makes plea deal in Mass. case

[jasoncross]

Basically. Money was made off of their image and they want their cut...pretty cut and dry. There is no historic use of a contemporary image - he just took it and never asked...I think I see the AP's point much clearer than Fairey's.

[fantasygoat]

Reinvesting the profits is still profiting.

[squeegeethree]

I'm 99.9% sure the Obama image falls under "Fair Use" and that the AP doesn't have a leg to stand on.

[jasoncross]

American Apparel just failed in similar rationalizations.

[Rob]

Isnt it pretty much a given that anybody who draws or paints a person they don't have personal access to and wants to make it realistic is going to have to rely on someone else's photograph?

he did neither.

[philaarts.com]

"I believe in the importance of making art accessible through many avenues, and I will continue to advocate the use of legal public spaces for meaningful artistic expression and communication," Fairey said in a statement. "Freedom of expression is the bedrock of our democracy. However, I also believe it is important that people respect private property and do not use it without the authorization of the owner."

[ricv64]

isn't there more then one obama artist ?

[steve w]

there's only one who has enough money to make it worth their time to sue

[jasoncross]

so the AP is out for a cash grab from Fairy? Interesting angle...heh. I think it probably has more to do with them becoming aware of it and knowing that if you don't fight to protect it then you can set a further precedent of it being usable - and thus them loosing power over their creative content. They are rightfully covering their ass.

Fairy would happily sue if you started doing color variations of all of his work with minor tonal changes.

[ricv64]

i know where you can get obama smoking dope posters