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AP says Shepard Fairey has some explaining/paying to do

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By Matthew Odam | Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 05:34 PM

If you live in the civilized world, you have likely seen the work of Shepard Fairey. The L.A.-based street artist, who originally came into the public consciousness with his Andre the Giant “Obey” graphic, may be responsible for one of the most visible and profound images of the past quarter century with his design of the Barack Obama “Hope” poster/sticker/button/t-shirt/etc.

His multi-colored design of a gazing Obama was admittedly based on a photograph taken by Manny Garcia of The Associated Press, who snapped the shot while on assignment at the National Press Club in 2006. Now, with sales of Fairey’s design skyrocketing into the millions of dollars, AP, which generally stays out of such kerfuffles, wants a piece of the action.

“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.”

Mr. Fairey does not seem to agree with the AP’s assertion that it deserves some royalty cash.

“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.”

Read the full AP story here.

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