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Keep 'HOPE' Alive - Fairey Sues AP, Garcia a Writer?

Bloomberg News is reporting that Shepard Fairey is suing the Associated Press. Fairey has gone to court - Fairey v. The Associated Press, 09-cv-01123 - which was filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

In this filing, according to Bloomberg - "Fairey seeks a court order that the image, created in January 2008, doesn’t violate AP’s copyright. According to the complaint, Fairey’s work is protected by the Fair Use statute, which allows limited use of copyrighted material to make original works of art."

On the other side of the aisle, there seems to also be a flurry of activity with the AP working behind the scenes to file their own lawsuit against Fairey in New York as well.

Meanwhile, back in DC, Mannie Garcia shared with us the first two sentences of the contract that he did sign with the AP, on March 1, 2006:

"The Associated Press appreciates the services provided by independent freelance writers. Clarity about the professional relationship between the AP and each freelancer is essential."

Writer? Seriously? I mean, I know Mannie can write a clear and concise caption, but a writer produces text, a photographer, well, not so much. So much for clarity.

The plot thickens.

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