Obama Poster Artist Admits Lie About AP Photo

by Janette Spencer-Davis, Legal Editor, CCH Copyright Law Reports   

The artist who used an Associated Press (AP) photo to create the famous image of President Barack Obama that was used during the presidential campaign admitted last month that he lied about which AP photo he used. Originally, the artist, Shepard Fairey, claimed that his poster was based on a photo of Obama seated next to actor George Clooney that required careful cropping and, therefore, constituted a transformative fair use of the photo. According to his admission, he actually used a solo picture of Obama that did not require any cropping at all. If the artist did not need to significantly alter the image he used, his fair use claim could be significantly undermined. He also admitted that he fabricated and attempted to destroy other evidence in an effort to bolster his fair use case and cover up his previous lies and omissions. On October 16, 2009, Fairey's attorneys stated that the artist misled them and that they would withdraw from the case. Despite their decision to drop the case, the attorneys "believe as strongly as ever in the fair use and free expression issues at the center of this case, and believe Shepard will prevail on those issues."