Obama "Hope" Poster Artist In Copyright Lawsuit

Shepard Fairey Battles News Agency AP Over Image Rights

Feb 18, 2009 D. Yvette Wohn

Shepard Fairey, an American contemporary artist who drew the famed "Hope" poster featuring Barack Obama, is being blamed for infringing copyrights.

Mostly known for his street art of highly political themes, artist Shepard Fairey is in a lawsuit defending his use of a copyrighted photo as inspiration for his Barack Obama "Hope" artwork.

The Hope Poster

Fairey was a fan of Barack Obama and expressed his interest to the Obama campaign in 2007 to depict him in his artwork. After being encouraged by the Obama campaign in January 2008, he created a series of works designed to capture the optimism and inspiration created by the Obama candidacy, which Fairey hoped would increase support for the then-candidate.

The first in the series was Obama Progress – a screenprint poster that was an abstract rendition of Obama colored in red, white and blue. It was followed by Hope which was the same illustration, but with the word "Hope" at the bottom instead of "Progress."

Fairey first began distributing the Obama Hope and Obama Progress posters in in late January 2008 and early February 2008 – the posters were almost immediately recognized by the public including Obama himself, who wrote Fairey a letter of thanks. Fairey initially sold 350 posters for $45 each, but as demand grew, he sold an additional 4,000 posters and later used proceeds from those sales to distribute nearly 300,000 more for free.

Since then, Fairey has created more artwork based on the illustration including Obama Hope Mural, Be the Change, Obama Hope Stencil Collage, and Yes We Did. Obama Hope Stencil Collage, a large-format, hand-stenciled collage incorporating the illustration of Obama from the Obama Hope poster along with other visual material, was recently hung in the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.

Fairey Versus AP

The portrait illustration for these posters were based on an AP photograph taken by Mannie Garcia, depicting Obama at a panel discussion at the National Press Club in 2006. AP claimed that the drawing violated its copyrights, and after publishing a news story on the issue, demanded an undisclosed amount of compensation.

Fairey then filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, claiming that he did not violate the copyright of the April 2006 photograph because he dramatically changed the nature of the image. Fairey is currently represented by the Center of Internet and Society at Stanford University, arguing that his use of the AP photo falls under "fair use."

According to the complaint, Fairey's team argues that the two images have different purposes. "While the evident purpose of the Garcia Photograph is to document the events that took place at the National Press Club that day in April 2006, the evident purpose of both Obama Progress and Obama Hope is to inspire, convince and convey the power of Obama’s ideals, as well as his potential as a leader, through graphic metaphor," the claim says.

Contemporary Art and Photography

Fairey, however, is not the first artist to have created a work of art based on a photograph. In fact, most contemporary artists use press photos for their portraits. Most of Andy Warhol's portraits, for instance (Mao, Jackie, Liz, Marilyn, etc.) are based on newspaper images. Artists Elizabeth Peyton and Marlene Dumas also paint from photos.

Richard Prince's works are also based on other people's photography- the artist actually took photos of photographs used in advertisement photos. Although there was controversy, the art community accepted it as art and his work was even featured in the Guggenheim, selling for millions of dollars.

"Copying" other artwork dates back even further. For instance, in 1887, Vincent Van Gogh "copied" Ando Hiroshige's "Thunderstorm at Ohashi" (1857).

The copyright of the article Obama "Hope" Poster Artist In Copyright Lawsuit in Art & Society is owned by D. Yvette Wohn. Permission to republish Obama "Hope" Poster Artist In Copyright Lawsuit in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Fairey's poster and AP's photo

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Feb 25, 2009 9:26 AM

Guest :

As a graphic designer, I am ashamed of the artist for not getting permission to use the photograph for reference. Photographers should be respected as any other artist. And in most cased, if you just ask the photographer out of respect, they may even give you permission for just a mere credit line. Even if you have to pay a small fee, it is worth it to acknowledge the photographer.

Feb 26, 2009 6:07 PM

Guest :

I'm a writer and a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors which has been involved in a number of lawsuits over copyright infringement. I care deeply about creators' rights, but I think using a photograph as the starting point for a graphic is not the same thing as using the photograph as is. The fact that the two images are completely different, and that the Hope image could never be confused with a photograph, seems decisive to me.

Incidentally, the photographer is also in legal dispute with AP, which is claiming ownership of the photo, although he was a freelancer when he took it. So even if Fairey violated someone's copyright, it's not at all clear that that someone was the Associated Press.

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