Article 4

"Artist Sues The A.P. Over Obama Image"

What a mess.

Long story short:

Freelance photographer, Mannie Garcia, took a picture of President Obama for the Associated Press (AP). Then, artist Shepard Fairey (who is a very cool artist, based on artwork and character) used this image as a basis for a now very famous creative portrait of Obama. SO. The AP has taken Fairey to court because they claim they own Garcia's original image by copyright. WELL. An astounded Garcia caught wind of this and claimed that HE owned the picture and was proud of what the image has become stating, “I don’t condone people taking things, just because they can, off the Internet, but in this case I think it’s a very unique situation. If you put all the legal stuff away, I’m so proud of the photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the effect it’s had.”

So, who's right here? Sounds like the AP just wants money. If money weren't involved, I don't think there would be any problem. I mean the photographer of the original image doesn't even care and is actually happy about the way the image was used.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/arts/design/10fair.html?ref=design