Has Mannie Garcia Changed His Tune About Shepard Fairey's Obama Poster?
from the unfortunate,-if-true dept
The Wall Street Journal is running an editorial by L. Gordon Crovitz, discussing the ongoing legal battle between Shepard Fairey and the Associated Press over Fairey's iconic poster of Barack Obama that was used during the campaign:Also troubling is the false implication from Crovitz that since the AP and Garcia make their livings selling their work, this poster somehow diminishes that ability. I can't see how anyone could make that claim. In both cases, it would seem to have only increased the ability of both the AP and Garcia to make money, rather than decreased it. This particular photo wasn't exactly a huge money maker for the AP or Garcia -- and now it (and they!) are getting a ton of attention because of it.
But, perhaps most troubling may be the quotes Crovitz uses in support of his argument from the photographer, Garcia. As we noted way back when Garcia was first identified by someone else as the photographer, he didn't mind at all and even seemed flattered:
"I know artists like to look at things; they see things and they make stuff. It's a really cool piece of work.... I wouldn't mind getting a signed litho or something from the artist to put up on my wall."But, when Crovitz spoke to him, he seems to have changed his tune:
"When I found out, I was disappointed in the fact that someone was able to go onto the Internet and take something that doesn't belong to them and then use it. That part of this whole story is crucial for people to understand: that simply because it's on the Internet doesn't mean it's free for the taking, and just because you can take it doesn't mean it belongs to you."It's really too bad if Garcia has changed his tune. It was really great, for once, to see someone flattered that their work inspired someone to do something great with it, rather than becoming litigious.
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Filed Under: copyright, fair use, mannie garcia, photos, shepard fairey
Companies: associated press
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sad
WRONG. If this is how you feel than don't put things on the internet.
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Re: sad
I say you've deprived the originator of a digital representation of his work!! Copying those bits and bytes from the interweb slightly weakens the original--this phenomenon is obvious by observing "old photographs" which have been put online, they're all bleached and faded. That's because people are making digital copies!
Stop people from degrading our digital photographs!!!
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Good Boy
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Re: sad
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Re: Re: sad
The artist in question would NEVER have bothered looking at that photo and would have used a different image (or would never create the iconic work in the first place).
The original photographer now cannot go about saying "I took the picture that is now a icon for a major historical event". That photographer instead is just another AP camera carrier.
So exactly how is it that using this image has harmed the photographer? Exactly how is it that he'd be better off not having this image used?
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Re: Good Boy
He'd be better off without this occuring, his CV would look better with one less big bullet point?
If Fairey was blocking Mr. Garcia from referencing this image from his CV or in marketing his photography services, then I'd say there's something the argue about. But as it stands, the only thing this fight is going to do is make others very leery of working with Mr. Garcia in the future.
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Feeding lines
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Re: Re: Re: sad
The bullet hole through the head and the brain matter splashed on the backdrop.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: sad
Here i was a reading a topical piece on the protectionist policies of outmoded companies in an online world and now you've gone and got all hugely topical and amusing.
i know its probably just to stir things up with a "Whitty" hate filled remark, but i shall now have to stand my ground firmly when i tell you to....
Cock off!
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: sad
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Re: Re: Good Boy
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The REALLY sad part of all this is...
Garcia's photo of Obama's pose that day is identical except for ROTATION and Left/Right flip to Alberto Korda's March 5, 1960 photo of Che Guevara.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GuerrilleroHeroico.jpg
Don't believe me? Here's the two side by side, rotation and flip adjusted:
http://www.rotorgraphics.com/cheobama/che-obama.jpg
In 1967, Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick took Koorda's photo and made the now iconic "Viva Che" poster:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FitzpatrickChe.jpg
To prove my point that the Garcia photo is identical in pose to the Koorda photo, here is Garcia's photo turned into an Obama version clone of the Fitzpatrick "Viva Che" poster done with TRIVIAL effort:
http://www.rotorgraphics.com/cheobama/Fitz-Obama.jpg
Garcia's and Fairey's works are both UN-ORIGINAL and while copyright may be stupid enough to protect these works, there is no law protecting the reputations of these men of, in my humble opinion, little talent and even less honor.
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Anonym ass
by Anonymous Coward - Mar 19th, 2009 @ 9:01am
"Honestly I think there is something extremely important missing.
The bullet hole through the head and the brain matter splashed on the backdrop.onym"
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Re: Anonym ass
I once listened to Neil Diamond.......
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Re: sad
I get this feeling that there are two basic trains of thought regarding these situations. The professionals are thinking, "Wow, look at how amazing I am. This took a lot of work to produce. I will allow you the privilege of gazing upon it." Meanwhile, the users are thinking, "Hmmm. You wanna restrict my rights? I'll go somewhere else then (or just rip it anyway to spite you)."
You wanna protect your creation? Share it with no one. If no one ever sees what you've made, no one can "take it" (even though you cannot "steal" a digital anything). It is hypocritical how these people approach the Internet. "I want all the benefits of digital distribution with all the consumer restrictions of physical distribution." Sorry! You can't have it both ways!
Copyright needs some serious 21st century repair. I believe in granting credit to the original producer, but I do NOT believe in absolute control over one's creation (ESPECIALLY when placing the creation in a public place).
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Re: Re: Re: Re: sad
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: sad
I can't wait to see the intellectual heights that will be reached by this thread.
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Re: The REALLY sad part of all this is...
Hah! That's true enough.
Frak, I should patent "a method for posing a subject looking as if toward a hopeful future." Sure, it's a tired old standby of portrait photography, but I'm confident that I could get it past the USPTO.
Get ready to pay out, Garcia! Ka-Ching!
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Re: Re: Anonym ass
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look, he didn't even get the colors right...
-bowerbird
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If it wasn't for Shep, Garcia would be another photographer out of millions.
And shouldn't President Obama sue AP/Garcia for this? It's his face for God sake!
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Re: The REALLY sad part of all this is...
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