Shepard Fairey admits to wrongdoing in Associated Press lawsuit

In a strange twist to an already complicated legal situation, artist Shepard Fairey admitted today to legal wrongdoing in his ongoing battle with the Associated Press.

Fairey said in a statement issued late Friday that he knowingly submitted false images and deleted others in the legal proceedings, in an attempt to conceal the fact that the AP had correctly identified the photo that Fairey had used as a reference for his "Hope" poster of then-Sen. Barack Obama.

"Throughout the case, there has been a question as to which Mannie Garcia photo I used as a reference to design the HOPE image," Fairey said. "The AP claimed it was one photo, and I claimed it was another."

New filings to the court, he 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." 

In February, the AP claimed that Fairey violated copyright laws when he used one of their images as the basis for the poster.  In response, the artist filed a lawsuit against the AP, claiming that he was protected under fair use. Fairey also claimed that he used a different photo as the inspiration for his poster.

After Fairey's admission, a spokesman for the Associated Press issued a statement saying that Fairey "sued the AP under false pretenses by lying about which AP photograph he used."

Fairey said that his lawyers have taken the steps to amend his court pleadings to reflect the fact that "the AP is correct about which photo I used as a reference and that I was mistaken."

The artist expressed his remorse in his statement, saying that he is taking "full responsibility for my actions which were mine alone. I am taking every step to correct the information and I regret I did not come  forward sooner. "

He added: "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."

Fairey's statement said he regretted that his actions would distract from the issue of fair use for artists. "Regardless of which of the two images was used, the fair use issue should be the same," he said.

Keep checking back with Culture Monster as this story develops.

-- David Ng

Photo: Shepard Fairey. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Tim Wyatt]

So much anger!
Most directed at the wrong guy.
It's not the President, it's the artist who let us down.

Any junior knows better. In this case, a guy who has been around doesn't know any better? I don't buy it. I can understand why he put up the false info; because he wanted to show that his contribution to the final image was greater than it was. Just a stupid pride thing. He should have been straight in the first place

[Josue]

that guy's company is like the dead kennedys song

"Step right up folks
Anarchy for sale!
T-shirts only 10 dollars
Badges only 3.50
I nicked the design, never asked the band
I never listen to them either

Buy Buy Buy from Circle A
Like hula hoops, it's a disposable craze
Another fast-food fad to throw away
Get your Anarchy For Sale"

except his t-shirts are like $30

[Andy]

Fair Use is not in support of how Shepard operates. What he does comes out to little more than tracing photos and filling the shapes with color, which is a problem when someone else has done all the work to take the photos. How difficult would it have been for 'the rockstar of graphic design' to snap his own photo of Barack Obama and trace that? He would have been covered, legally and morally, like a cheap suit.

[Bush is the best]

It's truly weird that anybody who supports Shepard is ultimately an Obama supporter. You fools who believe that Obama is doing poorly have no idea your ideas are being spoon fed to you by big corporations. All you do is tote the party line for Walmart, Haliburton, Amgen, etc. but you're unaware of where your ideas come from. Bush support the 100 and million up portion of our country, less than 1 percent of the population yet he carried the majority. Do a little sleuthing and you'll realize the power of advertising agencies in these companies swaying the general public. Oh and if you are an educated Republican, ditto-head, etc. the editors for the National Review supported Obama. Look at that, the educated elite of the Republican/conservative party supporting your anti-hero.

[Tony]

It's amazing how many people are using this as an excuse on this board to criticize Obama as if he somehow had something to do with it. It never ceases to amaze me how many people just can't stand the fact that we have a black President and will use any flimsy excuse to blame him for things he has nothing to do with. The Republicans lied and cheated for 8 years, looting the governement coffers and putting our country into the situation it now faces. And yet somehow this is all Obama's fault. If you voted for Bush....surprise - it's your fault!

[vargucci]

shepherd fairey steals almost all his images. just take a look around some cuban art, russian posters and propaganda images. he's a phenomenal marketer, but he's a thief.

[tucker]

what about the font? who owns that?

[i_am_not_a_crook]

Shepard comes forward to make amends for his mistake and this comments section fills up with Republican hypocrisy. Does the name Nixon ring a bell to any of you right wing nut jobs? How about Mark Foley? Larry Craig? George W(eapons of Mass Destruction) Bush? Shall I go on? This graffiti punk/artist has the decency to do the right thing, let's demand the same from republican elected officials.

[Chris]

To be honest, looking through these comments has made me very sad. I can't help but feel that many of you are nothing more than ignorant internet trolls. First off, If you ever thought that Obama was a messiah and that he was going to dramatically alter Washington in his first year as president....you are an idiot. The Obama propaganda that you denounce is the same crap that Fox News spews out every day and yet somehow that is perceived as truth, open your eyes!

The reality is Obama has 3 years left to make his mark. Have we really become so jaded with our political system that we are so quick to judge?

Also, I would to put forth another question. How many of you are actually Artists/Graphic Designers/ Photographers? How many of you are familiar with Fair Use laws? Call Shepard Fairey what you will but his work takes a piece that meant something 60 years ago and re-purposes it to be relevant today. Unfortunately, our culture of mass-consumerism has put his work into stores like Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters. I assume that you can argue he has to make a living somehow. Ultimately, his work attempts to carry a message, if it is interpreted as such is up to the kid buying the t-shirt...for this I commend Fairey.

[Obama Hope Scam]

Posting Truth About The HOPE Poster Scam Since September 2008:

www.obamahopescam.com

[Bill-Iowa City]

Wow.

For all of those out there throwing around the word(s):

Lie
Lying
Liar

...I have 4 words for you...

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

That whole thing about glass houses and stones...

[The VONSTER]

Rogers v. Koons

Rogers v. Koons, 960 F.2d 301 (2d Cir. 1992), is a leading U.S. court case on copyright, dealing with the fair use defense for parody. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that an artist copying a photo could be liable for infringement when there was no clear need to imitate the photo.

[JOKNOW]

The argument is about fair usage and public domain. In the case of taking a photo and not giving due referenece or credit, that constitutes intellectual property theft. More so with tracing drawings from childrens books or other places and calling it your own drawing . Tracing and projecting and copying with out due credit is like taking someones musical riff from a song. No matter how much you change it up or 'cover' it.

[pepe' roni]

Judging by the number of comments coming for the conservative camp on here, I would hazard to guess that the right-wing work output / productivity level has come to a grinding halt since obama took office, cause all you misinformed, whiny republicans have nothing better to do than clog the internet with your dreck. I'd like to repeat a favorite quote of mine from Antonin Scalia "Get over it" and get back to being productive in the truest sense of the world. Thankfully the world is evolving without you, you can choose to participate by evolving your thinking or be left in the dust with your very wrong outdated ideas. As for Shep, not cool. not cool at all.

[cathy]

he could have at least given the photographer credit for the picture, but seriously? LYING TO THE COURT? Instead of coming clean and agreeing to pay the AP for copyright infringement, he lied. This seems to be a trend among socialists and their supporters.

[MiLo]

Let me guess... most of the people commenting are conservative?? Just a wild guess.

[andrew]

There's a lot of vitriol on here over the source of a campaign poster image. He was wrong to lie no doubt, but when a little nothing story like this can send you flying off the handle maybe it's time to check yourself.

Claiming it's representative of everything from health care to the situation in Afghanistan? Take a deep breath and come on back to reality.

[David Goldner]

I'm an Los Angeles artist and as far as I'm concerned, Shepard Fairey is a hack. Plain and simple. He takes work from other artist and makes a small tweak and then calls it his own! That's a hack! It's not just the AP or Mannie Garcia. There are many artist that have accused him of blatantly steeling their work for commercial gain! In the interview above, he uses the word "referenced" to describe someone else's art work that he has blatantly stolen! He's a hack and is better known among artists for steeling other artist work, then his own creations. He's got no integrity as an artist and doesn't deserve the attention he's getting. The only attention he should get is in a law suit from the artists he's "referenced".

-David Goldner

[dmaa99]

it doesn't take away from the fact his art is inspiring.

[charles]

who care's. It's unoriginal with todays over use of vectorizing everything along with the ridiculous obamathon that went on prior to the election. the vectorization of obama's photo didn't involve any talent.. any photoshop expert can agree. the fact that it's obama is even worse. at that time when everyone was jumping on that wagon with no clue of what was to come. get over yourself and your vector image & move on. it's not worth as much as you think.