Judge Dismisses Shepard Fairey/AP Copyright Claims, Settlement Includes Collaborative Project

Hope springs eternal for Shepard Fairey, who has been locked in a two-year battle with the Associated Press over his use of AP photographer Mannie Garcia‘s portrait of (then Senator) Barack Obama for his iconic HOPE poster. Was it “fair use” under copyright law? You’ll recall the key plot points: Fairey sued, the AP countersued, Milton Glaser weighed in, as did Steven Heller. Things heated up after Fairey changed his story about the poster (and admitted to lying in previous statements), which led his high-powered legal team to flee and the AP, smelling blood, to amp up its claims with criminal charges.