Shepard Fairey: Inspiration Or Infringement?
February 26th, 2009
I am not sure if it is because we are learning about ‘fair use’ and ‘copyright infringement’, and I have a heightened awareness of these topics, but heard another story today on Fresh Air about a current case. In the program, Terry Gross talks with artist, Sherpard Fairey who created a poster in the Obama campaign in which he used another artist’s photograph (without getting permission) and transformed it. Later in the program the original artist, Mannie Garcia’s, gives his options on the use of his work by Fairey. This is followed by Law professor Greg Lastowka, who talks about intellectual property and prior cases on ‘fair use.’
Fresh Air from WHYY, February 26, 2009 · The Associated Press has threatened to sue the artist who created the iconic “Hope” poster of Barack Obama for copyright infringement, but Shepard Fairey says his work is protected under the principle of “Fair Use,” which exempts artists and others from some copyright restrictions, under certain circumstances.
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13
Additional resources on fair use and re-use
February 13th, 2009
Some additional resources on the discussions of fair use/re-use from the previous class.
Controversy around the Prop 8 maps site:
http://www.eightmaps.com
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/01/08/state/n172303S97.DTL
About live performances:
http://groups.ischool.berkeley.edu/samuelsonclinic/files/US_v_Martignon.pdf
http://williampatry.blogspot.com/2007/06/martignon-reversed.html
http://williampatry.blogspot.com/2006/01/now-thats-kiss.html
http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/121/march08/recentcases/united_states_v_martignon.pdf
Briefs filed by the Samuelson Clinic on behalf of google in the Kelly v. Arriba Soft case (relatively accessible):
http://groups.ischool.berkeley.edu/samuelsonclinic/files/Kelly_Arriba_1.pdf
http://groups.ischool.berkeley.edu/samuelsonclinic/files/Kelly_Arriba_2.pdf
On derivative works:
http://www.chillingeffects.org/derivative/ (the FAQ link at the bottom is useful too, but not completely up to date – remember this is _not_ legal advice but public information)
The battle over whether Shepard Fairey’s images of then-Candidate, now President Obama infringe the copyright of the Associated Press or photographer Mannie Garcia is a live controversy worth considering. In particular, someone asked about a footnote in the Perfect 10 decision about the nature of the photographs – claiming they are less creative then the landscapes in the Kelly v. Arriba case – the complaint below you’ll see also talks about the photographers picture as a “visual reference” and “factual” as opposed to “fictional or highly creative” work.
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/biguploads/Fairey_v_AP_complaint_with_exhibits.pdf
For some professorial debates on the legal issues:
http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2009/01/a-question-for-ip-folks.html
http://madisonian.net/2009/01/21/fairey-obama-and-fair-use/
The “Author’s Guild” wants the Robot in your Kindle 2 to Pipe Down
February 11th, 2009
The Author’s Guild, which claims to be “the nation’s leading advocate for writers’ interests in effective copyright protection, fair contracts and free expression” since its founding in 1912, appears to be upset over the text-to-speech feature in Amazon’s upcoming Kindle 2 eBook device.
I can’t locate the press release from the Author’s Guild, but from the news reports I have read (quietly to myself, and not out loud) it appears that the Guild is trying to make the case that reading a book “out loud” violates the copyright owner’s right to exclusively create “derivative works based upon the work.”
I would argue that the text-to-speech feature of the Kindle 2 does not produce a derivitave work, but rather is an alternative way of accessing the material one has already purchased. I would describe it as analagous to, say, plugging in an external monitor to the device in order to see the text more clearly. I would also ask if this feature really impacts the Audio Book market – do people generally buy Audio Books as alternatives to regular text, perhaps for a unique performance experience?