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The Associated Press photo by Manny Garcia. |
Globe Editorial
Street artist Shepard Fairey, engaged in a potentially precedent-setting battle with the Associated Press over his Obama “Hope’’ poster, just rendered his case rather hopeless. Fairey, who claims he had artistic license to use a photographer’s work for the poster without attribution, revealed Friday that he lied about which image he used and submitted false evidence in a pending lawsuit. The cover-up demonstrates his shameless disregard for artistic endeavors that aren’t his own. If he had any respect for the photographer or the scores of other artists whose work he has “referenced,’’ he would give them credit. At the very least, he should be transparent when asked about his source images.
In his legal tangle with the Associated Press, Fairey is defending the Obama image as a fair use exception to copyright law. Unfortunately, he has made a mockery of an important legal issue by demonstrating that his use of other people’s artwork is not fair at all.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
