Thursday, April 4, 2013
Copyright
A
copyright is used to protect things such as art, music, and literature from
being copied without the originator’s knowledge or consent. However, a doctrine
known as fair use states that work may be copied verbatim without the consent
of the author as long as it is being used for criticism, teaching, news, or
research. Often times, this policy is misunderstood.
Shepard Fairey’s Hope Poster is one
famous example of copyright infringement. Fairey claimed that
he was protected under Fair Use, but was brought to court anyway and lost the
lawsuit. I believe that he should have lost because he did not use the
photograph for criticism, teaching, news reporting, or research like Fair Use
states. He never credited the photographer, and he never offered to give a
percentage of the profit to him, despite the fact that his poster would have
been completely different if it wasn’t for the photograph he copied.
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