2A Fair Use
After reading the AIGA articles I found that many of the terms and tips for ethical design are helpful to the way I view design. The most important terms that I uphold are fair use and copyright terms, According to the AIGA Guide to Copyright, “fair use permits someone to use work without permission…” These articles have shown me the importance of knowing my intellectual rights to any design work, while also making sure I give full credit to any work I use from other creatives.
As a design student, I have used other creative work (mostly photography) in my school projects. When I use these images I often look for photos that are royalty-free, meaning there are no royalty or license fees. This allows me to use images that I modify and publish in my portfolio. I was essentially transforming the original work into something different and thus I never gave credit for the images. After reading the article I now know that it is important to give credit whenever I use someone else’s images, especially if I plan on publishing them in my own work.
2B The Fairy’s Copyright Case
Prior to reading the NYtimes article on the Shepard Fairey case, I wasn’t aware of the copyright battle over the 20008 “Hope” campaign poster. The case highlighted what happens when an artist incorporated another creative’s work into their designs without giving proper credit. In the case of Shepard Fairey, I believe his work should have been protected under fair use laws because of its transformative nature. However, once Fairey resorted to falsifying/destroying documents he put himself in a position to be questioned on his intentions. He tried to cover up his use of a particular photo he used in the “Hope” posted which he later claimed was a mistake. I think most of this could have been avoided if he was transparent as to where he obtained the image from. Although it should have been fair use due to it being a transformative piece, he lost the case because of the lack of transparency.
