Shepard Fairey, the Los Angeles artist who created the “Hope” and “Progress” posters to support President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign was sentenced Friday to two years probation for contempt of court during his 2009 litigation against the Associated Press, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
Fairey, 42, who also received a $25,000 fine and 300 hours of community service, initially denied using a copyrighted AP photo of Obama, chin tilted skyward, in the so-called “Obama works.”
Rather, the artist falsely claimed that he transformed another AP photo of then-Senator Obama at a 2006 National Press Club event with George Clooney. The campaign art was protected under the fair-use doctrine of copyright law, he asserted in a complaint.
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To conceal his false image-use claims, Fairey created fake documents demonstrating the Obama-Clooney photo served as the visual reference for the now iconic street art, according to the U.S. attorney's statement. He also tried to delete files showing the other tightly cropped AP photo inspired the posters.
After court discovery, the truth surfaced.
“After spending a great amount of time, energy and legal effort, all of us at The Associated Press are glad this matter is finally behind us,” AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said in a statement. “We hope this case will serve as a clear reminder to all of the importance of fair compensation for those who gather and produce original news content.”
