Just as his Boston vandalism charges are wrapped up with a guilty plea, Shepard Fairey’s other legal problems are getting more complex. Mannie Garcia, the freelance photographer who shot the Barack Obama photo on which Fairey based his iconic “Hope†portrait, is jumping in the fray between the appropriating artist and the Associated Press. Garcia is challenging the AP’s lawsuit against Shepard Fairey for copyright infringement, filing a motion that he is the actual owner of rights to the photo.
The AP claims ownership of the image, saying Garcia was their employee when he shot it in 2006, however Garcia maintains he was an independent freelancer, also working for other clients and not beholden to the bossy photo agency. And despite being “proud of the photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the effect it’s had,” Garcia may also challenge Shepard’s fair use defense. |Bloomberg|
