The artist who created the famous Hope poster of Barack Obama before he became the US president sued The Associated Press yesterday
The artist who created the famous Obama Hope poster before he became the US president sued The Associated Press yesterday, asking a judge to find that his use of an AP photo in creating the poster did not violate copyright law.
The lawsuit filed in US District Court in Manhattan said street artist Shepard Fairey did not violate the copyright of the April 2006 photograph because he dramatically changed the nature of the Obama image.
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The AP has said it is owed credit and compensation for the artist's rendition of the Obama image.
Lawyers for Fairey acknowledged that the artist used the photograph. But they said he transformed the literal depiction into a "stunning, abstracted and idealised visual image that creates powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message".
Fairey's Obama image became popular on buttons, posters and Web sites. It showed a pensive Barack Obama looking upward. It was splashed in a Warholesque red, white and blue and underlined with the caption HOPE.
AP spokesman Paul Colford said the company would have no immediate comment until its lawyers reviewed the lawsuit.u00a0
When asked about AP's position on the copyright issue, Fairey said, "It's a suppression of an artist's freedom of expression."u00a0
The lawsuit was filed on the same day that Fairey appeared in two different Boston courtrooms, where he pleaded not guilty to charges he tagged property with graffiti.
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