Credit: Mannie Garcie/AP and Shepard Fairey
The New York Times reports that the AP and Shepard Fairey have come to an agreement regarding the use of an AP image (taken by photographer Mannie Garcia) that was used to make the iconic HOPE posters to support the Obama campaign.
In the settlement which was announced today, Fairey and the AP both stand their ground on either side of the copyright infringement case (Fairey believes it was fair use; the AP does not) and both parties will come together to make additional HOPE-like images from AP photographs.
Not sure if this is a win for anybody really…but I guess it works for now.
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Assuming the photographer has a lawyer, there’s a very good chance they’ll get away with a couple of bucks. If the photographer registered the copyright 3 months or sooner after publication of the copy-written image, it could result in some serious cash. Otherwise they will probably just get a couple thou.
It was just so long ago that I highly doubt much will come out of it. But photographers own copyright to an image from the second it comes off the camera onto their computer until quite some time after they croak.
I’m currently undergoing a similar lawsuit under the same general circumstances and I didn’t even need to sue anyone to squeeze some cash out of the infringer.