Transformative Work

[ivyfic]

Artist Shepard Fairey sues the AP preemptively, claiming that the Obama Hope poster dramatically transforms an AP photo of Obama and therefore is not under copyright. The AP has threatened to sue Fairey twice, and is claiming that everything that incorporates the Hope poster is an infringement of their copyright.

This will be an interesting case to watch, as it directly addresses the question of whether transformative work infringes copyright. I find it interesting especially because Fairey is a counter-cultural figure whose Obama poster was created with the expectation that it would not be widely seen. Then the campaign embraced it and it's everywhere. And now that Obama's won and his campaign has been giving this poster as an incentive to donate money for quite sometime, now the AP wants its pound of flesh? Any bets which way this ruling will go?

Comments

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Even better, I've heard there's a dispute over whether the photographer who took it was under contract at the time, or something. Basically, it's possible that the AP doesn't actually have rights to sue in the first place.