Hope and Copyright

One thought on “Hope and Copyright”

  1. I expect it boils down, in part, to whetheer Mr. Fairey’s work is close enough in resemblance to be considered to still be Garcia’s photo. How this is decided is above my pay grade.

    There are differences with the original. The background is completely different. The color scheme is now a monochromatic, more hard light approach. Surrounding elements are quite different.

    There are arguments for it being still the essence of the photo. The gesture of the photo (the line of the head, the expression, the shadow/highlight composition) is the same as the photo, meaning that this would be factors in favor of it still being Garcia’s image.

    Were I the judge, I’d argue that the image has been sufficiently changed so as to avoid copyright. However, I am not, and there is case law that would be far more authoritative then I am. It’s a tough issue. This is NOT IMO out and out theft of someone else’s image. But the ancestery of the image is clear too.

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