Fairey Answers The AP's Counterclaims

By Anthony Falzone on April 15, 2009 at 10:03 pm

We filed our answer to The AP's counterclaims yesterday, and it's attached below. The interesting part is at the end, where we illustrate the double standard the AP seems to employ when it comes to using copyrighted works.

Comments

XLiontamer April 22, 2009 at 11:11 am

I didn't know about Baxter Orr, but now all I can say about Mr. Fairey is,
WHAT A HYPOCRIT!
Just lost the last shreds of street cred.

jackson April 19, 2009 at 9:47 am

Fight On for the Right of Creativity and All artists.

Stevil April 21, 2009 at 12:15 am

I'm not saying I disagree with Shepard's current stance(I certainly do not), but I do find it odd seeing as he filed a cease & desist order against Baxter Orr, in a similar situation.
It seems this is merely a guy trying to keep all the profit he's made from this picture and turning it around, because in this case (unlike the last), he is the little guy.
Fight On Indeed.

Ibexx April 18, 2009 at 3:41 pm

No doubt, Shepard Fairey has a strong, recognizable graphic style but he's a bit of a hypocrite with overly simple politics. He sells a lot of posters , excuse me, prints for profit and yet the content of many bash greed. For example, one poster pictures a dollar sign and the slogan This Is Your God. But I digress.
Shepard doesn't like other people profiting off his work. In other words he blasts people who sell his work on E-bay for profit. OK, that's fine if your not profiting off of other artist's work! Much of his graphic imagery is lifted directly from other retro posters, propaganda, photo's anything really.
I'm sure you are a nice guy Shepard. I like your taste in music at least, but get your philosophy straight.

kc April 17, 2009 at 4:37 pm

The picture of the alleged Herring artwork was used in an article where an authority on Herring's work said it was not by the artist. I believe that person is a relative of Herring, but I could be wrong.

SxanRR April 17, 2009 at 12:37 pm

Congratulations on your defense against the hypocritical press. Don't let them bully you around! Excellent work on exposing their hypocrisy with all the photos of copyrighted works they have stolen images of (and profit from). Hopefully some common sense and logic will come into play so that these bullies can take their nonsense and shut up about it. They are truly out of line, trying to gain compensation for things that aren't theirs to begin with. The arrogance of the Associated Press is mind-blowing sometimes.

OBRYBOMB April 23, 2009 at 6:20 pm

The lawsuit was just a way to stir things up. its really a load of shite. AP uses lots of images that are copy righted and no one gives a damn. Keep going Shep!

Elvis Smith April 17, 2009 at 4:32 pm

Why don't you guys work out a settlement and stop fighting this out in the media. It will only make matters worse. Clearly you must understand the importance of an artist ability to have copyright protection. Whether it is a photographer, a painter or sculptor, this is how artist's make their money to survive. If you have adapted a photo, then you are obligated to compensate the original artist. Of course it is much easier to do this in "advance" of its success. But now that the work is done, surely the Obama campaign has funds to offer a fair amount, that the AP would have accepted, had they been contacted for clearance in the first place. This ugliness is diluting the message of "Change". Stop digging in your heels on both sides and work this out. Fair is Fair!

Youcensoredmypost April 17, 2009 at 11:52 pm

So this BLOG is censored. Fairness is not what Mathew Sheppard wants. He glorified the lord OBAMA then got notoriety himself on the way. OBAMA got a presidency and now is traveling the world like a movie star. He has no money for Mr. Sheppard!
This whole thing is a joke! The concept of fairness appears to mean fairness as long as you get the most.
Where is my last post! This BLOG is a farce.

photographer April 17, 2009 at 8:11 pm

As a professional photographer I completely support Shepard Fairey's argument in this case. What he did was REFERENCE the photo, it is not an exact replica and the poster is clearly done in Shepard's trademark artistic style. Artists reference other people's work, it's been that way for centuries, that's part of how we communicate and exchange ideas and it should not be considered illegal!

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