Jesse Johnstone – New Media Works – Lethbridge Alberta Web and Graphic Designers » Blog Archive

The AP needs to get a life. Now they’re going after artist Shepard Fairey for his re-purposing of a supposed AP copyrighted photo of Obama. I say supposed because the photographer who snapped the pic was on a temporary placement at the AP and never did sign a contract with them – so who actually ‘owns’ the photo? The AP, the temp worker, the American people? Regardless, the art that Fairey made based off the photo was for the benefit of society (sorry Republicans and/or Pro-White supporters but it’s true) and it was nothing but art used to deseminate a message of, well, hope! It was made to be art and therefore should be considered fair use. What about Google? Fairey apparently found the photo after performing a Google image search. Should they be pulled into question for the photo’s distribution? It’s a slippery slope. Fairey has not personally made money from the piece (though many others who re-purposed it on shirts, posters, etc. have) yet the AP is targeting Fairey for damages. What a bunch of losers. Via: TechCrunch