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Shepard Fairey’s lawyers say they have not yet withdrawn from AP case

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Lawyers representing artist Shepard Fairey in his fair use battle against the Associated Press said in a statement that they have not yet quit the case in the wake of the artist’s admission to wrongdoings, contrary to published reports.

But they have stated to various parties their intention to withdraw from the legal proceedings at an undetermined date in the future.

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Anthony Falzone, who is one of Fairey’s attorneys, said that he has ‘not withdrawn as counsel for Shepard Fairey, and none of his other lawyers have, either.’

He added that ‘we have expressed our intention to do so at the appropriate time.’

A spokesman for Fairey said today that there may be a point when the artist’s lawyers will have to drop out of the case. ‘There’s a strong possibility that they will, but then again that may not happen. Nothing’s been decided yet,’ the spokesman said.

Reports last week in the media, including at least one published by the Associated Press, said that the artist’s attorneys have withdrawn.

A spokesman for the Associated Press said today that there were ‘numerous versions and updates’ to the breaking news over the weekend and that he was not sure if the Associated Press had run a clarification or correction.

Late Friday, Fairey admitted to wrongdoings in the AP case. He said in a statement that he had deleted files and submitted false images in an attempt to conceal the fact that he had indeed used a certain AP image for his ‘HOPE’ poster of Barack Obama.

In his statement, the artist said he was sorry for his actions but that the fair use issue at the center of the legal dispute remains unchanged.

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Falzone, Fairey’s attorney, said there ‘are lots of reasons lawyers may not be able to continue a representation, but in this case the underlying merits have nothing to do with that. We believe as strongly as ever in the fair use and free expression issues at the center of this case, and believe Shepard will prevail on those issues. We hope this unfortunate situation does not obscure those issues.’

-- David Ng

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