Shepard Fairey, the artist who painted the historic portrait of President Barack Obama (see above), is being sued by the AP (Associated Press) for copyright infringement.

The image, Fairey has acknowledged, is based on an Associated Press photograph, taken in April 2006 by Manny Garcia on assignment for the AP at the National Press Club in Washington.

The AP says it owns the copyright, and wants credit and compensation. Fairey disagrees.

“The Associated Press has determined that the photograph used in the poster is an AP photo and that its use required permission,” the AP’s director of media relations, Paul Colford, said in a statement.

“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.”

“We believe fair use protects Shepard’s right to do what he did here,” says Fairey’s attorney, Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University and a lecturer at the Stanford Law School. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to comment beyond that at this time because we are in discussions about this with the AP.”

What can I say?  This is the AP at its finest. They wait until the image becomes super popular and is making the artist money before they decide to sue the guy.  The AP, which many believed was in the tank for Obama during the election, had no problem keeping silent while the image helped BO obtain the office and became the symol of his election and him.

I believe this is totally fair use. The artist does say the painting is based on the photo, but the photo is not an exact replica of the photo.  The photo is boring, dull, and common.  Fairey turned it into something magicial, historic and not the AP is trying to profit off of his talent, not their photographers.

[image: fox news]