Ethics and Design 2B

The case of Shepard Fairey is a very intriguing one. The copyright case came as a result of Fairey creating a poster of Barack Obama using a photo he found online leading up to the 2008 election. When confronted with the source of the photo, Fairey tried to cover it up until he could no longer. When it comes to using others’ photography, a designer must obtain a permit from the copyright holder in order to use their photos in a project. His defense was that he had altered the photo’s composition and color to the point where it was an original piece by him as well as the selected pose being a classic among leaders. I believe that Fairey was in the wrong, particularly for the cover up. However, his defense was not entirely invalid. In order to claim copyright, a work must have a minimum of creative effort which Fairey’s poster had. At the same time, he did not follow the designer’s policy of obtaining permission from the copyright holder for proper use in his own work. The arguments over the details of the work that went into the poster and the loopholes that justify both sides can really make one stress and get confused over the details.