Shepard Fairey pleads guilty to contempt charge
Hope Poster © Shepard Fairey/Mannie Garcia/Associated Press
Shepard Fairey, the artist who created the Barack Obama Hope poster, has pled guilty to one count of criminal contempt, a year after he settled his copyright infringement case with The Associated Press
Author: Olivier Laurent
24 Feb 2012 Tags: CopyrightAssociated press
The "Hope" posters served as a rallying call for a change of government during the last US elections, and were seen plastered all over the country. The posters were designed by artist Shepard Fairey, but were based on an image the Associated Press owned.
Following a long legal battle, the AP was able to prove that Fairey had used, without authorisation the image. Now, the artist has pled guilty to one count of criminal contempt "for destroying documents, manufacturing evidence, and other misconduct in civil litigation against the Associated Press."
In a statement, Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara says: "As he admitted today, Shepard Fairey, an artist associated with an iconic image from the 2008 presidential campaign, went to extreme lengths to obtain an unfair and illegal advantage in his civil litigation, creating fake documents and destroying others in an effort to subvert the civil discovery process. The justice system - civil and criminal - depends on the integrity of lawyers and non-lawyers alike to follow the rules. Those who break the rules risk sanctions, including, in certain cases, criminal prosecution."
During his case against the AP, Fairey claimed that he had not used the AP's image to create the Hope poster, insisting, instead, that he had used another image that featured both Obama and actor George Clooney. "In order to cover up the fact that his complaint was not true, Fairey created multiple false and fraudulent documents, attempting to show that he had used the photograph of then Senator Obama with George Clooney in it as his reference," reads a court report. "Fairey also attempted to delete multiple electronically stored documents that demonstrated that he had, in fact, used the tightly cropped image of then-Senator Obama as the reference. The false and fraudulent documents were produced to the AP during discovery, and the documents that FAIREY attempted to delete were not initially produced to the AP."
Fairey could face up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $5000. He will be sentenced on 16 July at 10am.
"Mr. Fairey started this case by suing the AP over copyright fair use issues," says AP President and CEO Tom Curley. "The AP never expected the case to take the turn that it did. The AP hopes that some good may come of this, by alerting judges and parties to the possibility that spoliation may exist."
The news comes one year after the AP and Fairey agreed "in principle to settle their pending copyright infringement lawsuit over rights in the Obama Hope poster and related merchandise."
While Fairey argued that his use of the image fell under Fair Use, Associated Press said that the artist needed a license to use its image. "In settling the lawsuit, the AP and Mr. Fairey have agreed that neither side surrenders its view of the law," said the agency.
In addition, Fairey had agreed that he would not use another Associated Press photo in his work without obtaining a license from the agency. "The two sides have also agreed to work together going forward with the Hope image and share the rights to make the posters and merchandise bearing the Hope image," said the Associated Press.
For more details, read BJP's previous coverage.
Comments
Is this really a reason to go jail? Come on...I dont know the case, but is there much more craziest things going on this world?
Shepard Fairey is a thief and a liar. He lied to the Associated Press and to the courts, falsified documents and tried to destroy others that would incriminate him. He should definitely go to jail for some amount of time, if only to give him the opportunity and solitude to reflect on his actions. The photographer from the associated press has been working for 25 years developing his skills, purchasing gear as well as supporting himself and his family. Is it really 'FAIR' for someone to just grab one of his images and use it for their own personal gain without fair compensation. As a full time photographer I am tired of people thinking that photography is something that they can just use for whatever purpose without asking. Would Fairey try to use a movie, or some software, or someones song in a similar public arena without getting the proper license? I would think not. If people want to use photography as part of their art so be it, but they need to ask permission and pay the owner for that 'right'. If they don't want to pay then they should shoot it themselves. Perhaps that would change their perspective on what it really takes to make a good photograph.
Everyone using a camera records stuff created by others-ourselves included. Warhol would have been jailed likewise along with Hirst and all the Pop artists were they to have been pursued and treated like this guy.
Disney even try to stop you using images with their stuff in you've taken on holiday. The National Trust imagines similarly it owns the spaces we own (in fact) and observe. The French tried for years stopping us selling photographs of landmarks like the Eiffel Tower THEY claimed they owned rights to, but did not, like the landscape and our environment design.
Possibly this guy thinks its time to do a Ghandi and go to jail in the hope that at long last everyone will see that the Law is asinine and fascist, but he's wasting his time, as the public are now just as bad, poor sod!
Lying to a court and falsifying evidence
Do you really think so. British courts sent both Jonathan Aitkin and Jeffrey Archer for similar offences,
When is a crime not a crime? When an artist decides that it is art!
Until you have had an artist steal one of your images it is hard for some, not many thank goodness, but some to understand that it is theft and it is violation of the image owner, generally who is another artist.
It is disturbing that Shepard Fairey, a thief, doesn't even have to admit that he stole the image, "have agreed that neither side surrenders its view of the law" - how arrogant is that, it means he can stand around with similar art thief's and boast about how he stuck it to the man.
This man stole then he perverted the course of justice by falsifying and destroying documents - he knew he had it wrong from the start and just hoped he would get away with it. Some time in the slammer would do this arrogant thief well.
He also claims "fair use" - Fair use Shepard is when you grease my palm with some filthy lucre.
Get over yourself and stop stealing, original work is fun if you want to try it sometime
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