More Copyright Issues: Obama Art from Photo -Chapter 2

[kenw]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...s/6246687.html

Is the underlying photo used to create an "art" work protected? Common sense says yes, but $$ makes folks really reach for excuses.....

q) "How to make money in Photography?"

a) become a lawyer......

update 2-7
http://www.chron.com/disp/discuss.mp...t/6251597.html

[mmuhlenkamp]

The rights to use the image should have been purchased, but it also has been modified quite a bit. That's a tough one for me.

This is why it's good for artists or graphic designers to purchase the rights to used photographs or take their own reference photograph. I always look for Royalty Free images when I'm doing stuff.

[Gambit]

I'm no lawyer, but I believe I have a better understanding of copyright law than the average person and have been following fair-use issues for many years. I know a lot of you fit that description better than me especially as it applies to photography, so this is worth what you paid for it. :)

The guidelines around fair use are pretty vague. The keyword in the law is, I believe, "significant." There was obviously significant work performed on the photo, as one commenter on the page said "it's not just a matter of running it through a Photoshop posterization filter." I therefore believe that a reasonable judge would declare the work covered by fair use. However, it bears enough resemblance to the original I could certainly understand a decision the other way.

And Ken, your "a)" is sadly true in way too many fields!

[dbphotos]

Yep, this question has been around since the posters were first printed. Fariey has apparently done this on a lot of his art work.

I'll try to find the link that shows all his artwork that was derivative of copyrighted photos.

Here's another post on the Obama poster.

http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2009/...copyright.html

[PhotoPunk]

Hehe I'm curious how this will be played out...

I had something very similar happen in 2001. I did a shoot of lawyer Valorie Davenport for articles in Vanity Fair and the WallStreet Journal...then American Lawyer magazine (www.law.com) took one of my images...converted it into a painting and threw a rebel flag behind it in a racist twist...the article reflected it as well.



She and I were going to take legal action but she fell ill and nothing came of it...regrettably. I haven't talked to her in years.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

The Obama image falls under the style of the artists work, he was previously known for the OBEY GIANT and Communist Propaganda style works which he has done for over 20 years. (In fact he currently has a big art show in a Museum in Boston).
http://obeygiant.com/events/ica-bost...-retrospective
http://www.icaboston.org/about/press...hepard-fairey/

I've actually watched his career for a while (10 or so years) with his OBEY GIANT stuff.

This kind of falls under some of Warhols POP Art Pieces where he used photographs in his production process.
Here are a couple examples (others can be found at the Warhol Museums Poster Store http://www.warholstore.com/

So now it falls under artistic interpretation etc.

[dbphotos]

A more detailed article on the situation.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/firs...-hope-posters/

[mmuhlenkamp]

Here's an interesting article:

Obey Plagiarist Shepard Fairey

[PhotoPunk]

Originally Posted by mmuhlenkamp

Here's an interesting article:

Obey Plagiarist Shepard Fairey

EXCELLENT article...and this IDIOT is banking on everyone else's work....GRRRRRR.

It takes a LOT to anger me...this does it.

[dbphotos]

Originally Posted by mmuhlenkamp

Here's an interesting article:

Obey Plagiarist Shepard Fairey

That was the link I was looking for. Thanks for posting it.

[PhotoPunk]

...he was just arrested.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,7789739.story