If I were to compare my design work with the ideals of the AIGA Readings of Copyright and Ethics, i would day it still aligns with it fairly. For a large amount of my work, if I do use an image i always make sure to check the legalities of the photo in order to avoid any unwanted issues. I will admit that i do look at other designer’s work but if anything, it is only for inspiration or educational purposes at best. Even if I do use a random image on the internet i take it into photoshop and make more than enough changes to it to not warrant any unwanted legal issues. To avoid all of these issues it’s important to use images from stock websites or even free stock websites if you’re showing support to the photographers. I think it’s important to recognize how important to not take credit for someone else’s work. I would be devastated to find out if someone gained massive popularity and success off my work that they barely tweaked.
Based off how i treat the images or other information i use for work i take some real interest in the Fairey Copyright Hope Poster Case. In my opinion, to come to a complete decision in favor Shepard Fairer or against him is a hard decision. Yes, he did use a photo that belonged to someone else but the question is whether or not he changed it enough to get sued and that answer all depends on the person. It’s a hard case but i do believe that he did change it more than enough to not get sued. Him saying that he used a different picture and caught in that mistake definitely had a part in finalizing that case. He didn’t even personally profit from it aside from popularity but he did have to pay a lot out of pocket for it.