The Obama “Hope” Poster Case — Why New York?

In the last several weeks, it’s been revealed that artist Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic “Hope” poster for the Obama campaign on the right, based his poster on a photo taken by AP temporary photographer Manny Garcia, at left. Last week, AP sent a letter to Fairey, requesting “credit and compensation.” (AP) In response, Fairey, represented by the Stanford Fair Use Project and Mark Lemley‘s new law firm, filed suit for declaratory relief in the Southern District of New York. (Complaint)

This suit could raise a number of fascinating copyright issues, some of which I’ve already noted in dispersed comments on other blogs. I’m going to do a series of posts, addressing the following questions:

  • Why did Fairey file in the Southern District of New York?
  • Does AP actually own the copyright in the Garcia photo?
  • Is Fairey’s suit doomed to fail before it even gets off the ground?
  • What’s the “original” photo?
  • What does the complaint say about the poster creation process?
  • What if anything is copyrightable about the photo? Does the poster infringe on that?
  • Is the poster subject to a fair use defense?
Continue ReadingThe Obama “Hope” Poster Case — Why New York?

Favorite Wisconsin/Seventh Circuit Cases: A “Non-Patent, Patent” Case

This is an unusual blog post for me in that for once I am playing it straight with Michael’s request of the month. Just one case will be discussed! This, however, is not through any intentional strategy on my part. To use a colloquial phrase “the pickings were slim” since the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit hears most patent-related matters. To say the choice was “slim,” however, does not mean there was no fertile ground, and so I am selecting County Materials Corp. v. Allan Block Corp., 502 F.3d 730 (7th Cir. 2007), as my “favorite case.”

In County Materials, the Seventh Circuit, among other items, analyzed whether County Materials (a Wisconsin corporation) could sustain a claim of “patent misuse” against Allan Block (a Minnesota corporation). The case is an interesting one because County Materials is a great example of what, in her opinion, Judge Diane Woods (awesomely) refers to as a “non-patent, patent case” that falls within the jurisdiction of the regional courts of appeals, rather than the Federal Circuit, because the dispute before the court was not one where federal patent law creates the cause of action or is necessary to resolve the circumstances of the case. 

Continue ReadingFavorite Wisconsin/Seventh Circuit Cases: A “Non-Patent, Patent” Case
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