Iconic Obama Painter Being Sued by the AP—Linking to AP Stories Can Get You Sued!
I am sure everyone is pretty familiar with the iconic image of now President Obama that was painted by Shepard Fairey. Well apparently the AP (Associated Press) figured out that the original photograph is theirs and now are trying to sue the pants off Shepard Fairey for his original artwork. One thing you should know is that Fairey never made a penny off his work that he freely distributed and that others have made millions from. This is really an issue of corporate America versus the people and we as the people need to stand up to this sort of bullying. It is completely unacceptable.
Yesterday I demonstrated a way for you to not only protect some of your own IP (intellectual property) rights and at the same time let people freely distribute your work. Why? Because in my mind art and information should be freely shared, corporations shouldn’t be making profits from this. If I write a guide for first time home buyer’s am I really writing this entirely with my own original thoughts? No. I am borrowing on hundreds of other examples I have read over the past few years. The same goes for what Fairey has done. This is a clear example of fair use and yet this corporation has decided that they want in on it too. This has to stop. All of this copy right stuff has to stop.
I have heard that Obama is planning to completely redefine IP and copy right issues and I think this will be a glad change for many artists, writers and basically everyone who had no idea their rights were on the line. The EFF and the ACLU have been fighting the good fight for many years as our past government consistently sided with corporations. Enough is enough.
One quick addition. Maybe Obama should sue the AP for using his image? I think its just as fair as what they are doing!
The other part of this story is just a warning. Did you know that if you link to an AP story they can sue you? Yes. That means you bloggers! They can and have been doing this. Read this article for more information and please join the ban and no longer support the AP. Until they get their act straight and get with the digital age they do not deserve anyone’s support. Information is meant to be freely shared.
*Update* While I was writing this apparently it is being questioned whether or not the AP even owns the rights to the photograph. If that doesn’t show you how ridiculous this is I don’t know what else will.
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