Shepard Fairey, Obama Poster Artist in Legal Battle With AP, Makes Major Admissions in Case

By: E&P Staff A statement emerged tonight from AP concerning its long battle with artist Shepard Fairey over his use of an AP photo as the basic image for his famous Obama campaign poster.

AP said that Fairey's attorneys admit he tried to destroy some evidence, fake others and that his attorneys have sought to get off the case.

Fairey, in a statement on his site, acknowledged this.

An AP story opens: "Attorneys for poster artist Shepard Fairey, who designed the famous Obama HOPE image, say he based it on a photograph taken by The Associated Press and not another picture, as the artist had claimed.

"In papers filed Friday in federal court in Manhattan, Fairey's attorneys said they had amended their lawsuit against the AP, which had alleged copyright infringement.

"Fairey sued the not-for-profit news cooperative in February, arguing that he didn't violate copyright law because he dramatically changed the image. The AP countersued in March, saying the uncredited, uncompensated use of an AP photo violated copyright laws and signaled a threat to journalism."

Fairey issued a statement late Friday. He said that he knowingly submitted false images and deleted others in the legal proceedings.

New filings to the court, the artist said, "state for the record that the AP is correct about which photo I used...and that I was mistaken. While I initially believed that the photo I referenced was a different one, I discovered early on in the case that I was wrong. In an attempt to conceal my mistake I submitted false images and deleted other images."

Fairey expressed his remorse: "I am taking every step to correct the information and I regret I did not come forward sooner....I am very sorry to have hurt and disappointed colleagues, friends, and family who have supported me in this difficult case and trying time in my life." He added: "I am also sorry because my actions may distract from what should be the real focus of my case ? the right to fair use so that all artists can create freely. Regardless of which of the two images was used, the fair use issue should be the same."

His full statement:

http://obeygiant.com/

Statement from Srinandan R. Kasi, VP and General Counsel, The Associated Press, follows.
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Striking at the heart of his fair use case against the AP, Shepard Fairey has now been forced to admit that he sued the AP under false pretenses by lying about which AP photograph he used to make the Hope and Progress posters. Mr. Fairey has also now admitted to the AP that he fabricated and attempted to destroy other evidence in an effort to bolster his fair use case and cover up his previous lies and omissions.

In his Feb. 9, 2009 complaint for a declaratory judgment against the AP, Fairey falsely claimed to have used an AP photograph of George Clooney sitting next to then-Sen. Barack Obama as the source of the artist?s Hope and Progress posters. However, as the AP correctly alleged in its March 11, 2009 response, Fairey had instead used a close-up photograph of Obama from the same press event, which is an exact match for Fairey's posters. In its response, the AP also correctly surmised that Fairey had attempted to hide the true identity of the source photo in order to help his case by arguing that he had to make more changes to the source photo than he actually did, i.e., that he at least had to crop it.

After filing the complaint, Fairey went on to make several public statements in which he insisted that the photo with George Clooney was the source image and that ?The AP is showing the wrong photo.? It appears that these statements were also false, as were statements that Fairey made describing how he cropped Clooney out of the photo and made other changes to create the posters.

Fairey?s lies about which photo was the source image were discovered after the AP had spent months asking Fairey's counsel for documents regarding the creation of the posters, including copies of any source images that Fairey used.

Fairey's counsel has now admitted that Fairey tried to destroy documents that would have revealed which image he actually used. Fairey's counsel has also admitted that he created fake documents as part of his effort to conceal which photo was the source image, including hard copy printouts of an altered version of the Clooney Photo and fake stencil patterns of the Hope and Progress posters. Most recently, on Oct. 15, Fairey?s counsel informed the AP that they intended to seek the Court?s permission to withdraw as counsel for Fairey and his related entities.

The AP intends to vigorously pursue its countersuit alleging that Fairey willfully infringed the AP's copyright in the close-up photo of then-Sen. Obama by using it without permission to create the Hope and Progress posters and related products, including T-shirts and sweatshirts that have led to substantial revenue. According to the AP's in-house counsel, Laura Malone, "Fairey has licensed AP photos in the past for similar uses and should have done so in this case. As a not-for-profit news organization, the AP depends on licensing revenue to stay in business." Proceeds received for past use of the photo will be contributed by the AP to The AP Emergency Relief Fund, which assists staffers and their families around the world who are victims of natural disasters and conflicts.