Shepard Fairey Vs. AP Lawsuit Dropped

[onehandle]

Source: AP, Huffington Post



NEW YORK — A judge has dismissed copyright lawsuits between an artist who created the Barack Obama "HOPE" image and The Associated Press but has left a March trial date in place for related claims between the news service and companies that sold merchandise using the artist's image.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said in a one-page order publicly filed Tuesday that a "suggestion of settlement" led him to dismiss claims between artist Shepard Fairey and the AP. He said the claims could be reinstated within a month if either side requested it.

The judge said other claims between the AP and Fairey-related companies that manufactured or marketed products based on the image will be put before an eight-person civil jury on March 21. Lawyers on all sides did not immediately return messages seeking comment Tuesday.

The dispute stems from an AP picture taken in 2006 when Obama, then a U.S. senator from Illinois, was at the National Press Club in Washington. Fairey used the photograph when he created his artwork during Obama's 2008 run for the presidency. In 2009, he sued the AP, seeking a court declaration that he did not violate AP's copyrights when he made the Obama image.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/12/shepard-fairey-ap-suit-dropped_n_807800.html

[tomm2thumbs]

1. good - the uniqueness of his painted design created an entirely new work imho

at some point AP needs to figure out they have already lost this one and are just damaging their brand by pursuing it endlessly

[trud]

2. I think you would have a different opinion

if your income depending on creating work which you then copyrighted to protect. This is no different from downloading stolen music, ripping off the performers and companies and making some performers unable to earn a living.

[Exultant Democracy]

3. No different from downloading stolen music? Except for all the ways it is very different

like one is more or less an exact digital copy while the other is an artistic interpretation of a moment recreated by the artist using the photo as reference.

Copyrights and patents are important, but fair use is just as vital in a free society.

[frylock]

6. the photographer didn't have an issue with shepard's use of the shot..

it was the AP, who made no contribution to the work other than publishing it, that had their panties all twisted.

[tomm2thumbs]

9. precisely

and did they pay Obama to use his likeness in their photograph?

<g>

[tomm2thumbs]

8. my income does, and I do not

guess that is answered for you

[OKNancy]

4. kick

[kpete]

5. Shepard Fairey–AP Obama Lawsuit Dropped

Source: NY Magazine

Shepard Fairey–AP Obama Lawsuit Dropped

Shepard FaireyPhoto: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein dropped claims in the copyright lawsuit between "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" artist Shepard Fairey and the Associated Press because there was a "suggestion of settlement" between the two parties. At issue: whether Fairey had the right to use an AP photo of then–Senator Barack Obama to create his now-iconic "Hope" silk-screened posters.

In February 2009, the AP filed a lawsuit against Fairey, claiming that he violated copyright laws by reproducing the Obama photo as a silkscreen, and that his artwork was a "near verbatim copy." Fairey then countersued the AP, claiming his poster was produced under "fair use" laws.

It gets muckier: In October 2009, Fairey admitted that he knowingly submitted false images to the AP's counsel, in an attempt to prove that the photo used was not the AP's.

While the charges between the two warring sides were thrown out, the AP is still trying to eke some money out of Obama's "Hope." In March, the courts will hear a case between the AP and several of the companies that sold merchandise with the "Hope" likeness.

Read more: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/01/shepherd_faireys_obama_lawsuit.html

[frylock]

7. i was hoping that the lawsuit would increase the value of the print..

i have one that i'm looking to sell in 2012.