david eubank on art

Sometimes you can’t see the Meteors, because of all the Shooting Stars

October 18, 2009 • 10:49 pm 1

Shepard Fairey Admits “He Lied” About Obama Poster Image.

A new twist in the controversial case of Shepard Fairey and the copyright infringement case filed against him by the Associated Press has taken on a new dimension. Fairey admits he lied about which image he used to create the now famous Obama poster. He has also admitted to attempting to conceal the truth by submitting false evidence to the court and his attorney.

campbells-worms

“In an attempt to conceal my mistake, I submitted false images and deleted other images,” Mr. Fairey said in a statement, released on his Web site. “I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgment, and I take full responsibility for my actions, which were mine alone.” Shepard Fairey

Before you get your back up stop and ask yourself the question, is there anything really new in the world of creating images that does not reference some historical source?

The whole issue is a Can of Worms that Fairey opened under false pretenses when he decided to lie and create false documents. I guess the question is why? Because under the Fair Use rule it would not have made any difference to his case according to his attorney Anthony Falzone. The fact that Fairey lied about which image he used however does change the issue. Now he is not an Artist who used a source image to create a new work of art; he is a, perjure, a liar. That changes the focus of his defense from Fair Use to Perjury.

Shepard Fairey has stepped up now, has taken full responsibility for his actions, and admitted his mistake. As disappointed as I am that he lied I have to give him credit for now telling the truth.

The truth is today it is far more complicated to make images than every before and it is just going to get more complex in the future. Just look at just about any TV commercial and you will see a reference to familiar imagery. The same is true in modern image making. We have all been assaulted with the imagery of the past. Because we are human, we react to the familiar. I think recognizing the fact that we individually do retain an image vocabulary of our own, built upon a history of images of the past; we need to be truthful to our audience and ourselves and give credit to the source, the influence. This may not help you as far as the Law is concerned but it will help you be truthful about your work and your influences and inspiration. It may help you make more honest art.

We only need to look back in time a short way to the DaDa and Pop Art movements to reference the obvious. Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans or DaDa collages. It is not about the source it is about the truth. We are not even close to figuring out the complexities of modern image making. What we have to decide as artists is, are we going to pursue the question or are we going to allow the courts to decide for us? If you never achieve fame, it is probably not a very important issue, but if you do, it might be. Guess Shepard Fairey found out.

An Important Footnote to the Story and the AP Case

Manny Garcia the Photographer who took the Obama image has filed his own suit against the Associated Press AP. Garcia stated in court documents that AP has never owned the copyright to the image in question. Garcia stated he was hired to photograph George Clooney and that he never assigned the copyrights of the Obama image to AP. Garcia contends he alone owns the copyright to the Obama image, which Fairey used.

Read my original post here:

Copyright Fair Use and the Transformative Factor, by David Eubank

http://davideubank.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/copyright-fair-use-and-the-transformative-factor/

Check it out for Yourself

Resource: Stanford University Library Copyright and Fair Use

CHAPTER 9. Fair Use

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.html

B. Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/9-b.html#1

Filed under: Art, Art News, Culture Economey, How to survive as a Working Artists, Journalism, Media, News, On Art, Shepard Fairey, Trash, Uncategorized , http://davideubank.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=771#, http://davideubank.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=771&message=1#, Shepard Fairey, Shepard Fairey Associated Press Lawsuit, Shepard Fairey Lied

April 24, 2009 • 1:42 am 1

A Controversy of Transformation and Shepard Fairey

OBEY I am not a Crook, digital montage by David Eubank

A very well written article by Steven Heller on the Art of Shepard Fairey and the controversy of the transformative factor in art and copyright law.

Long live Dada!

Shepard Fairey is not a Crook, by Steven Heller

!! READ THIS !!

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, Art Prints, Culture Economey, Journalism, Media, News, On Art, Painting, Shepard Fairey, Uncategorized , Fairey, Shepard

February 11, 2009 • 1:52 am 5

Copyright Fair Use and The Transformative Factor

cloony-obama-hope1

Orginal Manny Garcia Photo with Faireys Hope Poster

The Question?

Can you the artist use, transform a copyrighted image in whole or part into a new work of art without permission of the original author.

That is a question that Shepard Fairey is about to answer.

Boy this guy Fairey is really mixing it up, with his recent arrest for graffiti in Boston and what I believe is a very important law suit in New York. The Associated Press wants credit and payment for Fairey’s Obama Hope image. They contend that Fairey violated Copyright Law when he used a photograph taken by Manny Garcia to create his famous poster of Hope.

I have written a lot about Shepard Fairey recently because his work in general is tied to a history in art that is of great personal interest to me. His work is connection to political propaganda and the Dada movement. And I think he does a good job as a image maker/artist.

I don’t know if Shepard Fairey intended to set landmark legal precedents in law when he started making images or when he made his now famous Obama poster, but that is what he is doing.

The reason this is so important is that the outcome of his argument with the Associated Press may in fact have a major impact on you and me as an artist. At issue is the Fair Use clause in copyright law.

I want to make it clear that I am not attempting to defend Shepard Fairey but I am attempting to defend his right; the right of Fair Use. Fairey is a convenient source because of his current case. Furthermore, I hope you will use the links I have provided to the related articles and the actual court documents to make your own argument about the issue.

That said, I have some issues I want to share with you not only about the Fair Use law but also about how the story is being presented.

First AP claims infringement of copyright over the use of the original image. What they don’t claim is that they in fact may not even own the copyright to the image. Manny Garcia the photographer may own the rights. AP never contracted with Garcia for ownership. He was a temporary hire with no contract by him or AP that would transfer ownership of the image to the Associated Press. Therefore, before AP has any claim they will have to establish ownership. And that may be another legal case in itself.

Second, is the fact that the current image in the press shown around the world is not the entire photograph that Manny Garcia took of Obama? The original image was of Obama sitting beside George Clooney. He was at a fund raising dinner for Darfur relief aid, at the National Press Club in Washington D.C in 2006. The image Shepard Fairey used and altered is a cropped version of the original.

hope-and-garcia

Third is the fact that Fairey took the cropped pose and significantly altered it. He not only altered the image by transforming it into a very graphic and abstract version of the original, he altered the content or purpose. He created new work of art based on the original by adding new expression and meaning.

Why is this important, because many artists use other people’s images for inspiration and transform those images into new works of art? Any body who has clipped pictures out of a magazine to make a collage has done exactly what Shepard Fairey did. Those old wallpaper design catalogs count too.

Equally important I believe is for the press to get the story right. Why didn’t they print the original photograph that I found in a link to court records, provided by the Mercury News? It took me about 5 minutes to find a version of the image I could use, when everybody else published the cropped version. I think the image they used unfairly slants the story and implies a different approach to the work Fairey created, inspired by the original image.

Copyright law is as complex as image making today. With new digital technology and the internet, available images have multiplied by a thousand fold and fair use is a major issue for artists everywhere.

I also want to note that Shepard Fairey has openly given Manny Garcia credit for his image and the inspiration the image had on Fairey’s work. As an artist have you ever been inspired by another artists work? Have you ever used another artist’s work as a starting point for your work?

The history of art offers many examples of fair use and transformative images, just look at an Andy Warhol image of a Campbell’s soup can. Campbell’s tried to stop him from using their trademarked image and lost. Warhol transformed the Campbell’s image into a new work of art that was inspired by the original. Warhol added new expression and meaning to the image.

I don’t think the Associated press has a case and I think Shepard Fairey is rightfully protecting all of us with his legal action against AP.

Read the actual court documents and related articles below.

Tell me what you think, add your comment, it is important.

AP wants credit for Fairey Obama Image, Boston Globe.

http://www.boston.com/ae/media/articles/2009/02/05/ap_wants_credit_for_faireys_obama_image/

Mercury News Article. Court Documents Attached PDF

http://www.mercurynews.com/newsspecialreports/ci_11666008

PDF at Doc Stoc. You can download the complete court documents PDF version with images free here. You just have to register.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/4104616/Obama-artist-complaint-vs-the-Associated-Press

Excerpt Stanford Fair Use/Copyright Stanford University Libraries

The Transformative Factor: The Purpose and Character of Your Use

In a 1994 case, the Supreme Court emphasized this first factor as being a primary indicator of fair use. At issue is whether the material has been used to help create something new, or merely copied verbatim into another work. When taking portions of copyrighted work, ask yourself the following questions:

Has the material you have taken from the original work been transformed by adding new expression or meaning?

Was value added to the original by creating new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings?

In a parody, for example, the parodist transforms the original by holding it up to ridicule. Purposes such as scholarship, research or education may also qualify as transformative uses because the work is the subject of review or commentary.

EXAMPLE: Roger borrows several quotes from the speech given by the CEO of a logging company. Roger prints these quotes under photos of old-growth redwoods in his environmental newsletter. By juxtaposing the quotes with the photos of endangered trees, Roger has transformed the remarks from their original purpose and used them to create a new insight. The copying would probably be permitted as a fair use.

Stanford Website/Fair Use

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.html

The Art of Politics

http://davideubank.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/the-art-of-politics/

A very well written article on the copyright debate and Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey is Not a Crook: by Steven Heller

Filed under: Art, Art News, Art Prints, How to, How to survive as a Working Artists, Journalism, Media, News, On Art, Photography, Politics, Shepard Fairey, Uncategorized , Artists and copyrights, Copyright Law, Fair Use Law, Shepard Fairey Associated Press Lawsuit

February 8, 2009 • 10:06 pm 0

He’s Still a Gangster? Shepard Fairey Arrested in Boston

griny

Well Shepard Fairey missed his big opening at the ICA in Boston he was arrested for graffiti. On his way to the opening where his audience awaited the Boston Police seized their man. Seems Shepard spent the few days leading up to the show creating public art in unwanted places. The Police and as it seems the people of Boston were not too impressed with his work on private property. I found the most interesting part of the story in reader comments, in the Boston Globe article.

Many of his fellow street artists mostly because of his success have criticized Fairey. They feel he has sold out to the establishment. So is this why he was out tagging to redeem his rep? Or was this a publicity gag that worked. Maybe drafting on Obama’s fame and fortune has slowed down. Fairey got a lot of good PR out of his poster. He got into the National Portrait Gallery without a ticket and he got the Boston Show. Now we will see what he gets.

I like his work to be honest regardless of what anybody says. I like the fact the he steals from artists of the past like Rodchenko and Heartfield. I like the fact that he uses familiar images that bombard us, only he makes us pay attention to them. I like the fact that he has a social agenda, that he is a voice that has power. I like the fact is getting attention, but he may not be so happy if he lands in jail. But hey you can’t buy this kind of stuff on your resume.

When Henry David Thoreau was in jail for his civil disobedience, his friend asked him what he was doing in there. Thoreau replied, “What are you doing out there”?

Story in the Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/08/street_artist_will_get_day_in_court_for_pasting_up_his_art/

Read the Comments, very interesting.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/02/controversial_s_1.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed6

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