Shepard Fairey, previously known best for his worldwide sticker campaign come street art movement depicting Andre the Giant, is being hassled legally by the Associated Press for using one of their Obama photographs for his artwork promoting the then-candidate.
Fairey’s ‘HOPE‘ image, which resonated on an international level, is now an iconic representation of the anticipation felt by many in the months leading up to the 2008 election. Fairey made no attempt to profit from the piece and even endorsed its use for various media, contingent only upon the user making a donation to one of a few charitable organizations supporting the arts.
Ignoring Fairey’s personal mission and its ostensible parallel to the political standings of the candidate he supported with his art, the Associated Press is attempting to receive compensation for use of their original image. While the concept of fair use implies that the originality of a piece is dependent on a subjective assessment of how much of the original work is used and to what extent the new work relies on the primary one, the AP feels that they are entitled to a cut of the revenue generated by this work of Fairey’s in particular.
Clearly, the photograph was just one of a billion of Obama, and really would never have made an impact without the artistic rendition that managed to have such a huge effect on people. Obama even acknowledged Fairey himself for his effort. I know there should be a joke somewhere in this article, but seriously, some shit is just not funny.
