Obama Poster Artist Arrested in Boston
BOSTON, MA (February 7, 2009) – Shepard Fairey, the artist who is currently in a copyright dispute with the Associated Press over his use of an AP photograph as the source for his famous Barack Obama "Hope" posters, was arrested Friday night in Boston on the way to an opening exhibit of his work at the Institute of Contemporary Art.
Police told the Associated Press that Fairey was arrested on a warrant accusing him of "tagging" property with graffiti.
The artist told a reporter for The Boston Globe that he's been arrested "at least 14 times."
Boston police said Fairey, 38, was arrested for tagging a Massachusetts Turnpike building, and that in several public interviews during the past week he spoke openly about tagging locations in Boston. Police tracked down his artwork in several Boston spots, they said, inclding the landmark Boston University bridge over the Charles River. After his arrest police discovered Fairey had an outstanding warrant from September 2000 for failing to appear in court on a tagging charge in Brighton, MA.
The Boston Globe says Fairey was arrested when when he was headed for his first solo exhibit, "Supply and Demand," on Friday night. The event was a sold-out dance at the ICA billed as "Experiment Night." More than 750 people were waiting for him to appear, the Globe said, and tickets were selling for as much as $500 on Craigslist.
The artist was released from jail but is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Brighton District Court. Fairey has been in Boston for the past two weeks installing his exhibit and creating outdoor art, including an oversized banner on City Hall, according to a statement from the museum.
Fairey's dispute with the Associated Press stems from his admitted use of a wire photo he found on Google of Obama that he used as his source for the famous Obama "Hope" and other Obama posters that became icons during the campaign and election. AP claims Fairey has infringed on their copyright. Fairey and his lawyer claim "fair use" and deny infringement.
The photograph, taken by photographer Mannie Garcia, has also been the subject of dispute between Garcia and AP. Garciia claims that he owns the copyright for the photograph because he never signed AP's freelancer contract, but AP – as recently as the same day Fairey was arrested – has said, "Mannie Garcia was clearly employed by AP when he took the photograph, and the photograph is clearly the property of The Associated Press."
The arrest warrants for Fairey center on graffiti that's based on his Andre the Giant street art campaign from earlier in his career, not on his Obama poster work, police said.
An illustrator at The Boston Globe used Fairey's police booking mug shot and the popular Web site Obamacon.me to create this image.
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