2B)After reading Shepard Fairey is Fined and Sentenced to Probation in ‘Hope’ Poster Case I’ve learned that it is easy to get yourself into difficult situations. In the article it states that, “The artist Shepard Fairey…was sentenced in federal court in Manhattan on Friday to two years of probation and fined $25,000 for tampering with evidence in the case”. This is incredibly scary as a designer and artist. It later states that Fairey had pleaded guilty but it’s worth noting the psychological damage this can do to someone and affect his career. He admitted to forging documents to conceal his misuse of a photo of Barack Obama and then went to jail for it. If he understood the ethical guidelines maybe this wouldn’t have happened. This is why it’s so important for artists to protect themselves and make sure whatever imagery they are using is credited, sourced, or copyright free. As an artist myself we are always using references when illustrating but never directly using the source material and claiming it as our own. If that were to happen then it probably would end poorly.

It is important to remain honest with oneself and with others. It is admirable that he pleaded guilty to the charges that he faced and was probably the best thing he could’ve done for himself. Plagiarism is never okay, and it is especially noticeable in the art world. Tracing and plagiarism is considered copyright infringement and can be very serious as we’ve seen. This is why Fairey is a controversial artist because he has been sent to court over this poster and has been accused of plagiarizing other artists in the past. According to Shepard Fairey: The Controversial Street Artist it states that, “In some cases, even casual examination of these claims shows almost verbatim copying with little transformation. While some of the older, political propaganda works are in the public domain, others are not. The real issue seems to be that Fairey copyrights these appropriations, enforces his copyrights and profits from them”. So he is making profit from these works and is controversial for a reason. As an artist myself it is a tough position to be in. Sometimes creativity doesn’t come so easily and being super original is difficult. However, it is no excuse to not be ethical in design. It’s important to be transparent about everything you do, so that you don’t need to be taken to court and potentially ruin your career.

Source 1: https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/shephard-fairey-is-fined-and-sentenced-to-probation-in-hope-poster-case/

Source 2:https://www.thoughtco.com/shepard-fairey-quick-facts-183349#:~:text=Controversy%20Around%20Fairey’s%20Work,public%20domain%2C%20others%20are%20not.