Fresh Aire Discusses Obama “Hope” Poster

While cruising between meetings today, I heard NPR’s Fresh Aire which had an entire episode devoted to the rights debate behind the Obama “Hope” poster.  The show is broken down into three very interesting segments:

  1. Shepard Fairey: Inspiration Or Infringement? The segment features Shepard Fairey, the creator of the Obama “Hope” poster which was based off of a photograph that the AP has claimed rights ownership of.
  2. Mannie Garcia: The Photo That Sparked ‘Hope’ The segment features Mannie Garcia, the Associated Press photographer who took the original photo which Shepard Fairely used to create his “Hope” portrait.  (I wonder when someone will use the other half of the original photo to create a stylized portrait of George Clooney…)
  3. Law Professor Weighs In On ‘Hope’ Squabble The segment features Greg Lastowka, law professor at Rutger’s School of Law, discussing the legal precedences of Fair Use.  I found the ambiguity surrounding Fair Use rather disturbing…

Each segment has additional links to other stories on this topic.  Well worth the listen to understand the various aspects of this story from some of those directly involved.

2/27 Update:  Check out the related post from A Photo Editor.  I expect there to be some interesting discussions in that thread… (I wonder how close to the “fair use” pool’s edge the Editor is standing based upon his posting excerpts from the audio interview?  Listen to #3 above for a deeper understanding of what I mean.)

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