Obama Photog Says "You're Both Wrong" To AP & Fairey 222
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In Fairey v. Associated Press, the Associated Press said artist Shepard Fairey's painting had infringed its copyrights in a photo of then-President Elect Barack Obama. Fairey said no, it was a 'fair use'. Now, the freelance photographer who actually took the AP photo — Manuel Garcia — has sought permission to intervene in the case, saying that both the AP and Fairey are wrong. Garcia's motion (PDF) protests that he, not AP, is the owner of the copyright in the photograph, and that he never relinquished it to AP. And he argues that Fairey is not entitled to a fair use defense. According to an article in TechDirt, this intervention motion by Mr. Garcia represents a changed attitude on his part, and that his initial reaction to Mr. Fairey's painting was admiration, and a desire for an autographed litho. Maybe Mr. Fairey should have given him that autographed litho."
Photog? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Photog? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Go back to your TV Guide (Score:2)
Obama wasn't a president at the time that photo was taken. Official [*] has nothing to do with anything...whomever WAS the OWHP then wouldn't have been photographing the President if he had been taking shots of Obama.
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This might be interesting if it were the first time I'd read it here.
But posting it in every Obama-related article is just obnoxious, and perhaps racist itself.
Re:Afro-American Racism Against Whites and Asians (Score:4, Insightful)
We really did ourselves in with this election I'm afraid.
With this election!? You americans are some severely diluted people. For the past 8 years your ex president helped your nation gain one of the worst reputations in the world, and you honestly think that now you've fucked up? The next time a european (or a piece of "eurotrash" as you so elaborately call us) flips you the finger for just being american, please don't be surprised. It only makes you look even more embarassing since it merely proves your cluelessness of just what the fuck the world thinks.
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Al Gore received 90% of the black vote in 2000, and John Kerry received 88% of the black vote in 2004. (Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/10/21/black-support-for-obama-at-near-record-levels/ [wsj.com])
So your 65% number is bullshit.
Since this is off-topic I'll say no more.
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I love it when conservatives talk about race. It's so ... racist. And the large numbers of overt racist Republicans is doing a great deal to help both Democrats and liberals.
Keep on going.
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The Internet, of course. Maybe you've heard of Vimeo, or Youtube? Plenty of pictures with voices, hell some are just still pictures with music playing!
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Actually, it is highly relevant for many of us web geeks, due to the tangled mess that copyright and inspiration versus derivative works is. In an indirect way, this could influence things like source code, where a company sues a smaller company for copyright infringement, and then the coder who wrote the code in the first place steps in, claiming that the supposed copyright holder only licensed the code from him and didn't get full copy rights.
I personally think this case ought to go to Mr. Fairey, since h
Is this the photo of... (Score:4, Funny)
...Obama checking out some 17 year old girl's ass?
Re:Is this the photo of... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Is this the photo of... (Score:5, Interesting)
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Way to go...
great photo (Score:2, Interesting)
baby got barack
http://blog.beliefnet.com/everydayethics/2009/07/obama-ogles-ass-nah-but-sleazy-sarkozy-sure-did.html [beliefnet.com]
Re:Is this the photo of... (Score:5, Informative)
Dude, have you seen the photo [popcrunch.com]? It's actually out of context (if you see the actual video), but hilarious. If it was Bush, everyone would be hamming it up. Obama's the president, and with that comes our right as Americans to poke fun at him on a regular basis. There's nothing unique about him that exempts him from that. Also, your comment indicates presumptuousness - how to you know syousef is conservative? Also, what's up with being Anonymous Coward? Are you that ashamed of your political ideals?
If it were Bush ... (Score:5, Funny)
,,, it would look like this:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/08/09/article-0-0237E35600000578-961_468x541.jpg [dailymail.co.uk]
Re:If it were Bush ... (Score:4, Informative)
Yeah, the girl in question asked for a swat on the butt, but Bush decided one in the small of the back was more appropriate. [dailymail.co.uk]
Clearly Bush (who got to play some volleyball) had the better of it, if you read the whole article.
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With attention spans of 6.3 sec, we don't read the... Hey, check out that ass!
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Re:Is this the photo of... (Score:5, Interesting)
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If it was Bush, everyone would be hamming it up.
True, but there is a difference. In the case of Bush the video would go on with him wiping his glasses with the girl's dress [youtube.com], then bumping his head somewhere, or trying to open the wrong door etc...
Re:Is this the photo of... (Score:5, Informative)
ABC posted a video of the whole event, he is not checking her out. Or at least, his head does not track her. He's turning around to offer an arm to the woman behind him to help her down the stairs.
Sarkoszy, on the other hand, stares at her ass for a good 10 seconds.
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Sarkoszy, on the other hand, stares at her ass for a good 10 seconds.
Now, why is that not a surprise?
Re:Is this the photo of... (Score:5, Funny)
Thank goodness Berlusconi wasn't there.
Re:Is this the photo of... (Score:5, Informative)
It's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbifTbJtgJA [youtube.com]
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Yep, he's self identifying as a "woosh-candidate" for the entire point of Free software.
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Do you remember that David won that contest? I don't think that was the point you were making...
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The video tells a completely different story from that still. Believe what you want to believe though.
The video indeed tells a different story. I have nothing against Obama, except that he is a politician and they are all prone to corruption and self-serving nonsense. I do not follow a U.S. party and I am not a U.S. citizen. The photo is still funny as hell.
Really? (Score:5, Informative)
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"Photog" was to fit within the space limitations of Slashdot headline requirements. And "litho" was the word used in TechDirt; people use the term "litho" all the time to refer to lithographs.
Yes and they are actually artists who make them, not some Internet reader passing off the jargon as if they are in that particular industry.
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RIght, because no one outside an industry should be allowed to use the magic words?
Umm, what?
Re:Really? (Score:4, Funny)
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2 mch txtng i thk. kds r lzy.
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But we're computer geeks, not darkroom geeks; "photog" might need a little more explanation in these circles, than in its native ones.
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Pretty much any technical field you go into has that sort of thing that goes on mostly to speed things up and figure out who's just a poser.
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Indeed, you're talking about a Shibboleth [wikipedia.org]. It's a cool word.
I'm having a hard time seeing infringement (Score:5, Insightful)
So, lets say that this isn't Obama, since the personality and timeliness of the subject appear to be clouding the issue. I'm presuming that the timliness of an image, since the copyright lasts for over a century, isn't salient (someone will doubtless correct me if I'm wrong).
Let's say this is the picture of the Hellers Bakery. Let's say it's a photo of a street flower vendor, and someone takes an anonymous photo off the net and decides to base a work of art on it. It might look like this http://www.josephcraigenglish.com/SidewalkFlowers.jpg [josephcraigenglish.com] and the artist would be required to create the hundred-plus silk screens and choose the colors to create a particular mood. How about if it were more generic? Say, a photo of the Capitol, posterized down to 8 colors with a red-white-and-blue sky?
Having seen the photo and the print for the first time today (but having hear about it previously), I'm calling bullshit on the AP and Garcia. Yes, the photograph is copyright, but the content - Obama looking up in a button down shirt and a tie - is so generic as to be reduced to almost "factual" information when translated into the poster.
I fear that the court will rule in favor or either the AP or Garcia. If they do, it will be just one more proof that the system is broken, and is stifling rather than promoting and enabling.
Oops (Score:2)
Sorry 'bout the Heller's Bakery line...I forgot to delete it when I chose another JCE print. FWIW, he does very nice work, and they're a bit of fun when you want to add color to a room. It's a bonus if you're from the DC area and know the spots he likes to take as subjects.
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We could even use this to "protect the children" in that the subjects could step forth and demand damages.
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What you're talking about is called "right of publicity". In the US it is a matter of state law, not federal law, and the details vary considerably from state to state. Obama probably has no claim here because the original photograph is a news photograph of a public figure. Obama might well have a claim if the photograph or a derivative work were used for something like advertising soap.
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One other point: the right of publicity is a purely negative right. The holder of the right has the power to prevent certain uses of his or her image. He or she does not have the right to license uses of his or her image that infringe on other IP rights. If a photographer takes a picture of, say, Jennifer Aniston, she can prevent that photograph from being used in an advertising campaign for hairspray or clothing. She cannot, however, unilaterally grant a license to an advertising agency. The photographer
Re:I'm having a hard time seeing infringement (Score:5, Insightful)
I think it's even more simple than that ... everyone's greedy and copyright law is completely broken.
the IP industry wants it both ways and only when it supports larger corporations rather than individuals ...
contrast this with the recent wikipedia issue of the UKs national portrait gallery claiming copyright on photos taken of portraits that are in the public domain
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/1239244/UKs-National-Portrait-Gallery-Threatens-To-Sue-Wikipedia-User [slashdot.org]
the real issue is that copyright law protects the entity with the largest legal budget.
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I totally agree with this. I own a small business (California C corp) and I was behind on filing some forms. When I started looking at the penalties they can levy on the business it is really a joke. As long as I, as the CEO, don't engage in any criminal behavior there are very few real penalties.
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Yes, the photograph is copyright, but the content - Obama looking up in a button down shirt and a tie - is so generic as to be reduced to almost "factual" information when translated into the poster.
All photographs are "factual" information.
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But they are composed in a way which is unique. It's my assertion that the unique features which make a photograph have been almost entirely removed - transformed into an image which could very well be found to be nearly identical to a frame of a TV clip of the same - or even another - speaking engagement the (now) President has given over the last 2 years.
FWIW - I've been doing photography for 30 years, almost never for money, but I work in the Architecture field, which is all about creativity, uniqueness,
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>> "It's my assertion that the unique features which make a photograph have been almost entirely removed - transformed into an image which could very well be found to be nearly identical to a frame of a TV clip of the same - or even another - speaking engagement the (now) President has given over the last 2 years."
If that's true then it should have been easy for Fairey to find some pubic domain image to use. If I take someone else's code for something I could have written but didn't feel like it, tha
Re:I'm having a hard time seeing infringement (Score:4, Interesting)
Fairey had no idea who created the image, and as I understand it there was no credit in the clip he found on the internet. Last year I tried to search for an image of a pro football player (not one of the "stars") to frame for a big fan of his who is a friend. I looked all over the net and found several, but most were not the quality needed for reproduction, and most had no attribution whatsoever. By chance, a full resolution photo was posted to a fan site associated with the team - again with no attribution whatsoever. Luckily, the photographer _had_ placed his name in the EXIF data, and the photo had been uploaded without any modifications. From his name, I found his website and obtained permission to reproduce the photo (he printed a nice 16x20 at his printer and shipped it to me for a reasonable fee). Honestly, it can be hard to track down a copyright owner with all the thumbnail clips on the net. If you stopped 100 people on the street in middle America and asked them how to view the EXIF data on a jpeg photo, do you think you'd get more than 4 or 5 people to actually be able to tell you? I knew, and it was still difficult to find.
It's not as easy as you think to find the author. I got burned for $2k by Getty about a year ago for two 150x200pixel images on my business website. The images were contained on a "royalty free" CD purchased by my web designer some 8 years prior, and the images contained no attribution to the author or copyright holder. A web crawler for Getty matched the images to their catalog, and I got a "bend over" letter in the mail. The actual usage would have cost me about $180, had I known the images weren't royalty free, and known that Getty owned/managed the copyright.
I don't think that particular photo made any difference to the art. It could have been one of many photos to act as a "portrait setting" for the bold color scheme and MLK-like pose for the poster (which I believe is the art of the piece)
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It's not as easy as you think to find the author
Indeed, it really isn't. I'm a photographer and, yeah, it does happen that stuff gets separated from it's owner, EXIF should be a pretty good solution but sometimes, even often, people strip it out along.
There are a few steps being taken toward "search the web by image content, approximately", the best example I know of so far is the TinEye search engine (www.tineye.com). It's pretty cool, even found a musical group that was using one of my images as their f
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Photographers (more often than not) are attempting to tell a specific story, and will very intentionally compose a photo accordingly. So while photos aren't lies (excluding work in photoshop), they can and do often take a small section of the truth way out of context.
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Typically speaking the photo won't have any meaningful creative element to it and will just consist of documentary evidence. Sort of like group photos or pictures of museum piec
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>>Yes, the photograph is copyright, but the content - Obama looking up in a button down shirt and a tie - is so generic as to be reduced to almost "factual" information when translated into the poster.
If that's truly the case, then why would Fairey have needed to use the photo at all? If it is generic, why did he use it? Why wouldn't he use his magic artist skillz to create some equally lifelike pose without anyone else's photo? I understand the majority of Slashdot doesn't view photography as a creat
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If the original photo adds nothing at all to the "essence" of the final work then Fairey shouldn't have needed it in the first place.
It certainly had mechanical value to Fairey's work, but not much more.
Arguing that it had creative value is going to be extremely difficult - very little of the normal creative elements that go into photography exists in the final work - not depth of field, not framing, not color temp, not grain, not exposure, not lighting, not focus, not fine detail. What Fairey has done is the visual equivalent of summarizing an entire book in a couple of paragraphs and then adding his own spin to the reaming skeleton of
Re:I'm having a hard time seeing infringement (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't necessarily disagree with the photo being copyrighted, and not redistributable. I just happen to believe that the work is transformative. Many key elements of the photo have been removed or altered beyond recognition or to the point of being wholly generic (collared shirt, tied tie, blank background turned into two contrasting colors). There is no way to tell from the poster where he is (inside? outside? etc...)
Does it/should it come down to "did he create it from scratch or use the photo as a template for his work?" As I understand copyright, it doesn't. If he had created this from seeing Obama in person, or from the photo in the paper, without the digital version as a starting point - would it still be copyright infringement?
Let me try a different direction: as a public figure, with the cameras "always on," and the number of poses that are common to a man who carefully considers his speeches and deliveries - is there any shot of him that _can't_ be found to match a realistic rendering of his bust in a "natural" or "common" stance from scratch? I suspect, though I can't prove, that amongst the thousands and thousands of hours of TV footage of the campaign and first 6 months of his presidency there is a shot of him at least once, if not multiple times, with a pose similar enough to the photo to use as a model for the poster. That, to me , makes the subject so generic as to be a fact, and not copyrightable. The exact digital file, however, is still copyrightable, as it puts him in a place, with particular fine, defining features of the time, and with a specific background, foreground, and the like - i.e., a photograph.
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The questions you are asking are all valid ones, which is why copyright law addresses the concept of a derivative work. You might disagree with the notion that a piece of media which is difficult to create is worth more than one that takes less effort. But if the image is recognizable even (as in your example) as one of one or two similar photos, then I think there is an argument to be made that the use is infringing.
Ultimately, if you don't want to secure the author's permission, you should do your own wor
Re:I'm having a hard time seeing infringement (Score:5, Insightful)
Ultimately, if you don't want to secure the author's permission, you should do your own work.
Sorry to disillusion you, but nihil sub solum novum. There is no such thing as "your own work"; all creators build upon what others have done.
Re:I'm having a hard time seeing infringement (Score:4, Interesting)
No man is an island, and all that; I get the general idea. All works are derivative works. But there's a big difference even between being inspired by what you've seen and attempting to duplicate it, and going forth and literally duplicating it. I don't believe that it is theft, or even that it is necessarily wrong in all cases. In fact, I don't necessarily even believe that it is wrong in this case. I do, however, see the obvious argument.
Ultimately, I think that our society can function without copyright. On the other hand, you can't count on people not to be asshats. If you want photographers to be able to make a living taking photographs and licensing or selling them and so on, you have to believe in their right to control their distribution and use to some extent. It's okay not to want that, although some photographers might disagree. After all, people pay for images used in commercial art every day.
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But if the image is recognizable even (as in your example) as one of one or two similar photos, then I think there is an argument to be made that the use is infringing.
I don't find the alleged original photograph and the posterized image to be recognizable, the angle of Obama's head is different in both the angle to the right and in elevation, the ears on the poster are smaller and less Opie looking. Even the pro's had a difficult time figuring out which photo might have been used, and the impression I got is even Fairey isn't sure.
Boy you just can make this shit up, a guy named Fairey turns a picture of a presidential candidate into a cheap copy of a Stalin poster and th
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But if the image is recognizable even (as in your example) as one of one or two similar photos, then I think there is an argument to be made that the use is infringing.
That's a bit silly. If I review a movie, and I use portions of the dialog and plot, if I use audiovisual clips that are recognizable as being take from the movie, this is unlikely to be infringing because I've transformed the portions of the earlier work that I've used into a new work of criticism. Mere 'recognizability' isn't a factor in a d
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I don't necessarily disagree with the photo being copyrighted, and not redistributable. I just happen to believe that the work is transformative.
I agree. It is a classic fair use.
The problem is that the way the courts handle these cases, it can cost zillions of dollars in legal fees to get to that point, and there is no guarantee how it will come out. The creative process is hampered by this openendedness. An artist should be able to know ahead of time whether he can or can't use something, and if so to what extent.
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Frequently you can secure the permission to do so for very little cost or at least far less than the cost of litigation. I mean yes it will tend to favor the creator of the original piece, but you're far less likely to end up in the situation where you're having to dump large sums of money down the drain to
Attitude not changed too recently (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Attitude not changed too recently (Score:5, Interesting)
Also... It looks like something a mildly talented person could do in under an hour in Photoshop.
Which is all Shepard Fairey really has to offer the world. All of his best "work" is borrowed more or less directly from another artist's source materials with little to no modification aside from his brand name. [art-for-a-change.com]
It may be that Duchamp and Warhol paved the way towards the act of selection being defined as a creative act, but I find it difficult to think of Fairey in the same light. His work isn't breaking barriers, presenting irony, or forcing us to rethink our interpretation of the source material he chooses to use. It is blatantly commercial and self-serving, calling attention to the Fairey brand without adding any value or doing any creative work as part of the process.
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Wait, are you saying that Andy Warhol wasn't commercial and self-serving?
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Additionally Warhol was well known for his commentary on the art market, which was an additional layer above what th
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Parent post deserves to be at +5. Shame on people who have mod points today.
For those who didn't follow the link, Fairey has a history of copying other art works without giving credit. His works don't add any comment on the original art, aren't a critique of the art world or artistic methods, and don't apply the old propaganda he steals to modern situations which are similar. He does steals to make money.
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Damn, where are my mod points when I need them most?
Please read the article referenced by the parent poster. It's long, I know, but it really helps placing this dispute in the proper context.
I was torn before, but seeing that basically Fairey built a career on taking existing photos and graphics and replacing the text with his own (also pretty childish too) makes me understand why the photographer is pissed off.
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Don't throw out accusations of tracing without even taking the short time needed to test your theory.
Looks like more or less a tracing to me, as per the rollover image at the bottom of this post.
http://blog.ideeinc.com/2009/01/23/will-the-real-obama-hope-photograph-stand-up/ [ideeinc.com] And I don't see what you're talking about with respect to the ear symmetry.
*shrug* Be more interesting with bigger versions of the images, I have no beef with you if you disagree--just think that actually providing the data is interes
Obligatory Evan Roth Intellectual Property Asshole (Score:2)
Obligatory Evan Roth Intellectual Property Asshole Competition Link [ni9e.com]
Although it seems both assholes are refusing the bait.
Red, white, and blue (Score:2)
No one seems to have noticed the real "transformative" or impressionist addition made by the "painter", huh? He altered the background and shading in the photo to reflect a gradient from red to white to blue.
I'd say that's plenty transformative enough. Regardless, I feel like I'm playing devil's advocate in even pointing this out, given that I disagree with most of the justifications for the existence of copyright in the first place.
This "photog" Garcia is apparently a prick who isn't happy with just his
This is all irrelevant (Score:2)
as it is up to a court and judge to decide if the "fair use" clause can be used for the artwork.
In many cases artwork is based on pictures, but it is different enough from the picture that it does not violate copyrights. If it was a bit by bit copy you can claim copyright violation, but it is not a 100% match and may be different enough through effects and colors that it may fall under "Fair Use" for parody or works of art, or anything.
It should be noted that the "stupid" DMCA law tries to do away with "Fai
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The DMCA applies to neither fair use nor to this case.
Re:This is all irrelevant (Score:4, Informative)
You can't be serious about that? [eff.org] Clearly it does apply.
Fair use serves a crucial role in limiting the reach of what would otherwise be an intolerably expansive grant of rights to copyright owners. Were it not for the fair use doctrine, each of the following activities would be infringing:
* whistling a tune while walking down the street (public performance)
* cutting out a New Yorker cartoon and posting it on your office door (public display)
* photocopying a newspaper article for your files (reproduction)
* quoting a line from The Simpsons in an email to a coworker (reproduction)
* reverse engineering of computer code (reproduction)
* "time-shifting" a radio or television program (reproduction)
* playing an excerpt of Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" in a copyright law course (public performance)
* quoting from a novel in a review (reproduction)
If you ever took an art class, you know that they use such things as pictures and then ask you to create your own art from it. If this case is found guilty of copyright impingement, then art classes will be outlawed or drastically changed so that one cannot create art from a photograph.
It is not a photocopy, it is art, it is not an exact copy, it is different in a certain way as an art form goes.
If this case is valid, then artists everywhere will lose their rights and freedoms to create art just like it.
A copy of a copy.... (Score:2)
"When I found out, I was disappointed in the fact that someone was able to go onto the Internet and take something that doesn't belong to them and then use it. That part of this whole story is crucial for people to understand: that simply because it's on the Internet doesn't mean it's free for the taking, and just because you can take it doesn't mean it belongs to you."
Actually, posting it on the internet does make it free for the taking, Garcia. It's just not free to sell or distribute as ones own.
Personally, I think this is a bunch of crap. At the very most, the poster only looks like a drawing of Obama's head from the picture. Maybe it was stylized in Photoshop or maybe he very carefully sketched out a drawing of the photo, but there was also some additional details added by the poster author that are not in the picture, just as
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From Garcia in the techdirt article:
"When I found out, I was disappointed in the fact that someone was able to go onto the Internet and take something that doesn't belong to them and then use it. That part of this whole story is crucial for people to understand: that simply because it's on the Internet doesn't mean it's free for the taking, and just because you can take it doesn't mean it belongs to you."
Actually, posting it on the internet does make it free for the taking, Garcia. It's just not free to sell or distribute as ones own.
Actually, you went just a bit to far/ Had you said:
It's just not free to sell or distribute.
you'd be correct for much of what is on the net. I run into the "I found it on the net so it must be free to use / public domain / not copyrighted;" it's amazing how many people think that even when they are otherwise savvy business people. I often ask "so because I can easily get electronic copies of our work on the net it must be free for anyone to use rather than pay use, eh?" Of course, these same people balk
What are the chances... (Score:3, Insightful)
...you could find a frame in the thousands of hours of TV coverage of Obama that has his face in this approximate pose and orientation - enough from which to base the stylization of the bust, and crop out the background to the multi-colored sky and banner bottom? Would the existence of such a frame nullify this lawsuit, or create a second one allowing one of the TV networks to sue the artist as well?
Re:What are the chances... (Score:5, Insightful)
It would make virtually no difference, unless you could show Fairey copied from that frame instead of the photograph (meanwhile, sourcing from the photograph has generally been acknowledged).
Copyright does not require uniqueness or novelty. It requires originality, i.e., you created the portion of the content you are claiming rights to rather than copying it or registering someone else's work, and expressiveness, i.e., the portion of the content you are claiming rights to is an expression of an idea (aliens invading earth) rather than a bare fact, an abstract idea, or a conventional meme/plot. Ex: Two photographers standing right next to each other take essentially simultaneous and virtually identical photographs of Obama at a rally. Two separate copyrights, and neither work infringes the other.
Once you get beyond registration (which is required in order to file suit for copyright infringement), the primary bone of contention in a copyright infringement lawsuit for a "derivative work" is whether the author of the later work 1. had access to the earlier work and 2. appropriated substantial expressive elements of the earlier work. If there was no access, or even with access no appropriation from that work, there should be no copyright violation. Ex: Third photographer takes photograph that is coincidentially similar to first two at later portion of rally. Third separate copyright, no infringement. Ex: Third photographer poses Obama look-alike in rally-like staging to create a third photograph like one of the first two (the only one they've seen). Probable copyright infringement of only one copyright.
The only advantage to there being another source, if in fact it was the other source, is to say "No, I didn't take it from you, I took it from them, and it was public domain/licensed/none-of-your-business-because-it-wasn't-yours. And then prove it. The public domain, of course, might be that other source. But don't expect the copyright owner to take someone's word for it unless they're a reasonably trustworthy someone.
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So, if this is not a unique pose for Obama, and the shirt and tie are also common, is this not "a conventional meme/plot" or - in this case - pose which is a feature of the personality of the man, rather than the creative originality on the part of the original photographer?
If this were a shot of the Capitol, would it make a difference? What if the graphic artist who created this:
http://www.lneuman.com/ACEOs/images/m2588.jpg [lneuman.com]
was sued by the photographer who took this shot:
http://creativebushido.files.wordpr [wordpress.com]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Uniqueness is not required. Are you arguing that Obama always takes that body position, and is recorded from that angle, with that framing? So frequently as to be routine? At best, you might argue that the views are akin to a "scene a
Re: (Score:2)
Seems to me that showing that the painting could have been plausibly based on any of several photos would strengthen the painter's case considerably. Doing so would indicate that what he copied was not the photographer's creative expression but mere scènes à faire.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Neither. Any number of photographers who took identical photos would have their own copyright. Only the one whose photo was traced (if indeed one was) would have a case. If the artist looked at photos but drew his own he's likely fine, unless he took extreme attention to detail.
If this had been a frame from a video it would (more) likely fall under fair use being an insignificant part of the whole. Each still photo is individually copyrighted, borrowing one still photo is less 'fair' than one frame of a vid
Re: (Score:2)
"If this had been a frame from a video it would (more) likely fall under fair use being an insignificant part of the whole. Each still photo is individually copyrighted, borrowing one still photo is less 'fair' than one frame of a video."
That brings up an interesting distinction, especially as video gets better and better. We already record HD at 1920x1080 - fully 2 megapixels. (For the young 'uns out there, my first digital camera was less than 1MP, and I have some negatives on Konica 3200 which can certai
Copyright is out of control (Score:2)
Taking a a photograph of something is not an original work, for the most part. Painting a picture of it might be.
But to be honest (while leaving out entirely my position on Obama's politics themselves) I would think that Obama himself should have copyright on any images of himself, to hell with who made them.
I think this should apply in general, although photo studios certainly believe otherwise and go out of their way to tell you so. If the subject of a photo is a person, then that person should have an ov
Re:Copyright is out of control (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
If I design a can label for a soup company, do I own the label, or does the company?
If someone takes a photo of the can with 'my' label on it, who owns the copyright to the photo?
If someone paints a pop-art version of that photo, who owns the rights to it?
If someone takes a photograph of that painting, who owns the rights to it?
The only winner is the copyright lawyers for all these people.
- RG>
Clever Fairey (Score:2)
Nice of him to let AP do all the leg work on the case and THEN intervene.
Garcia Is Consisent (Score:5, Interesting)
Regarding this: "There's no way to square this with his original comments"
I do not believe Garcia is being inconsistent; I would probably have a similar reaction. I put almost all my photographs under the creative commons license, and I am very flattered when anyone considers my photographs good enough to use for anything. Still, I consider this part of the license absolutely essential: "you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor". I took the energy to take and share my photograph with others, so I think the license I put it under should be respected.
Although I use a different license than Garcia, we both agree that putting something online should not be the equivalent of completely losing ownership/control of our art. Still, we are both flattered when people do want to use our art. These two beliefs are not mutually exclusive.
When will Obama step in... (Score:2)
...to point out that he is actually the one with ownership over his own head and all 3 of these people are wrong?
What was Garcia's contract with AP? (Score:3, Insightful)
What was the contract that Garcia signed with AP? If he didn't sign anything, then AP wouldn't have any rights to use his work at all. If he signed over all his rights, AP owns the work. If he signed over certain rights to use them in newspapers and magazines, but kept all other rights for himself, then he owns the rights. Depending on the contract he used, he might have kept the right to make derivative merchandise.
Garcia's legal papers don't mention anything about the contract he signed with AP.
Are there any photographers out there? What are the provisions in the usual contract you sign with an agency like AP? Do you sell all rights? What rights do you keep?
Hope for copyright reform? (Score:4, Insightful)
I think the photographer is due something. But by the time the courts have figured out exactly what that is, the lawyers will have used up all the money.
Arbitration seems like a worthy alternative to the courts.
Since it's a famous picture of him, maybe the President could spend a few hours looking over those law books and sorting out some of this Intellectual Property mess we find ourselves in. Look at it another way, if Barack Obama can somehow be personally dragged into this vortex the way John Q. Downloader has been, maybe there finally will finally be some... Change. :)
Re:Does the AP have a leg to stand on? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)