HOPEFUL

Lawsuit Over Obama Hope Poster Dismissed

Shepard Fairey and AP may reach settlement.

A judge has dismissed the continuing lawsuits between street artist Shepard Fairey and the Associated Press over the Hope poster Fairey made during President Obama’s 2008 run for the White House. Fairey used an AP image from 2006 in creating the iconic 2008 Obama image, then lied and attempted to destroy evidence when accusations of plagiarism emerged. Fairey first sued the AP, demanding a court pronouncement that there was no intellectual property law broken, and the AP countersued alleging a copyright violation. The judge dismissed the suits as talk of a settlement emerged between the two parties, though the cases can be reinstated if settlement talks fall through. AP lawsuits against manufacturers that profited off the image remain in place.