Iconic image of Obama’s campaign sets off “Fair Use” battle
The Associated Press claim that the iconic red-and-blue Barack Obama “Hope” image that was everywhere during Obama’s last campaign is based on one of their pictures and they want part of the revenue pie.
Designed by Shepard Fairey, a Los-Angeles based street artist, the image has led to sales of hundreds of thousands of posters and stickers, and has become so much in demand that copies signed by Fairey have been purchased for thousands of dollars on eBay.
AP says it owns the copyright, and wants credit and compensation. Fairey disagrees as he claims “Fair Use” of the image in the creation of the new artwork.
Fair use is a legal concept that allows exceptions to copyright law, based on, among other factors, how much of the original is used, what the new work is used for and how the original is affected by the new work.
SIDENOTE: After the publication of this, wikipedia was defamed by a user named “Obey Master” to include the following,
Not to be mistaken for “”’Fairey use”’”, where street artist Shepard “obey” Fairey is a law unto himself and uses images without permission on a regular basis.
IPRHA took it upon itself to correct this insertion. Edit history on wiki (link)
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