Artist Shepard Fairey, creator of the iconic red-and-blue “Hope” campaign poster, was sentenced to two years’ probation and fined $25,000 today after being found guilty of criminal contempt.
Controversy over the poster arose after an AP photographer claimed copyright infringement, saying Fairey had used his photograph of Barack Obama without permission. Fairey countersued, but eventually admitted that he had falsified evidence and deleted documents from his computer out of fear and panic.
Fairey, who has also created several posters to support Occupy Wall Street, posted a statement today accepting responsibility for his actions, saying, “The Obama HOPE poster was created and distributed by a belief in what Obama could do for this country and my hope that I could inspire others to thought and action. Making money was never a part of the equation.” Which, in retrospect, makes the poster even more representative of the Obama administration than it was before.
An important Message from Shepard Fairey http://t.co/vkSotDoH #obeygiant
— Shepard Fairey (@OBEYGIANT) September 7, 2012
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https://twitter.com/korch/status/244199862416076800
It's appropriate that Shepard Fairey's community service requires him to remove and paint over his murals and paintings.
— Efrem Miserablist, Jr. (@NoneMoreWack) September 7, 2012
We wouldn’t hold our breath for this to happen.
Hey @BarackObama ,
Since @OBEYGIANT 's poster pretty much branded and won the election for you, how about you pay the fine for him?— David L True (@davidltrue) September 7, 2012
Correction: we originally misreported the fine in this case as $250,000; the actual fine is $25,000.
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