In an Oct. 21 counterpoint, art teacher Mina Leierwood attacks the Associated Press -- which is suing artist Shephard Fairey over copyright infringement -- for reporting that Fairey, after a year of denials, has admitted using AP's photo of candidate Barack Obama as the basis for his famous "HOPE" illustration.
Leierwood characterizes AP's lawsuit as "a perfect example of corporate greed utilizing intellectual property laws to control and own American culture" and proclaims that "our freedom of creativity as a nation is on the line here."
The lawsuit doesn't put freedom of creativity on the line. It puts copying on the line.
AP wants what all copyright owners want when they believe their creative work has been pirated: for the thief to (1) stop using the copy and (2) pay for the theft.
Leierwood says that Fairey's illustration (and thus AP's photo) "belongs to the people" because it has become a "cultural icon."
If creative works that become iconic belong to the people, there would be little incentive for anyone to create and to share them with the people.
Actually, all creative works will eventually belong to the people, once the statutory copyright protection period ends. But in the meantime, the law treats them as private property. Creators own their work and can commercialize it if they -- not someone else -- choose to.
Would Andy Warhol have created his famous paintings or Theodore Geisel his Dr. Seuss illustrations knowing that if the works became icons (as they must have hoped), the public would own them?