obey's Journal (original) (raw)
Monday, March 9th, 2009
10:08 am
[my_art_space]
Based on Shepard Fairey's recent statements you would think that he would fully support artists using his widely known images under "fair use". After all, in the NPR interview Fairey suggested that his lawsuit against the Associated Press is important because he views it as standing up for the rights of artists who create art that is protected under "fair use". However, Shepard Fairey has a history of threatening artists with legal action when they utilize his famous artwork under "fair use"-- even if the artist did not willfully infringe. The most recent situation involves graphic designer Larkin Werner and his Cafepress store. Fairey’s representatives claim that only he can use the word Obey in artwork and designs. Read More:
http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2009/03/disobey-shepard-fairey.html
Monday, February 16th, 2009
9:55 pm
[farmanimalsrock]
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
12:09 am
[my_art_space]
Shepard Fairey sues the Associated Press 
The Associated Press situation involving the artist Shepard Fairey and allegations of copyright infringement has taken a twist. Shepard Fairey’s legal team broke settlement negotiations with the AP on Friday. Earlier today the artist filed against the AP in hopes of gaining a supportive decision from a judge concerning his use of the AP owned photograph which served as the base image for three versions of Fairey‘s Obama posters. The AP had agreed not to sue Shepard Fairey up until today. However, they will likely take action now having stated that they believe it is crucial to protect photographers, who are creators and artists. The AP wants to make it clear that works by photographers and artists should not be misappropriated by others.
More on the story, http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2009/02/shepard-fairey-sues-associated-press.html
Why his use is not fair use, http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2009/01/shepard-fairey-obey-copyright.html
Sunday, February 8th, 2009
3:32 pm
[webofthreads]
in the news... BOSTON (Feb. 7) - A street artist famous for his red, white and blue "Hope" posters of President Barack Obama has been arrested on warrants accusing him of tagging property with graffiti, police said Saturday.
Shepard Fairey was arrested Friday night on his way to the Institute of Contemporary Art for a kickoff event for his first solo exhibition, called "Supply and Demand." Two warrants were issued for Fairey on Jan. 24 after police determined he'd tagged property in two locations with graffiti based on the Andre the Giant street art campaign from his early career, Officer James Kenneally said. One of the locations was the railroad trestle by the landmark Boston University bridge over the Charles River, police said.
Fairey, 38, of Los Angeles, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Brighton District Court, said Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney. Wark said Fairey would also be arraigned on a default warrant related to a separate graffiti case in the Roxbury section of Boston.
Fairey has spent the last two weeks in the Boston area installing the ICA exhibit and creating outdoor art, including a 20-by-50 foot banner on the side of City Hall, according to a statement issued Saturday by the museum.
The museum said Fairey was released a few hours after his arrest. Boston police confirmed Fairey had been released, but did not know exactly when or the amount of his bail.
A man who answered the phone at Fairey's Los Angeles studio, Studio One, declined comment.Shepard Fairey was completely unaware that there were any warrants for his arrest. Had he known, he would have resolved all such issues before the opening of his art exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston," his attorney, Jeffrey Wiesner, said in an e-mail.
Fairey has been arrested numerous times for drawing on buildings and other private property without permission.
His Obama image has been sold on hundreds of thousands of stickers and posters, and was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington before Obama's inauguration.
The image is the subject of a copyright dispute with The Associated Press. Fairey argues his use of the AP photo is protected by "fair use," which allows exceptions to copyright laws based on, among other factors, how much of the original is used, what the new work is used for and how the original is affected by the new work.
A California lawyer who has represented Fairey in the copyright case didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the arrest.
Current Mood: 
sad
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
3:39 pm
[my_art_space]
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
12:33 am
[my_art_space]
There is no HOPE that this story will ever get the attention it should have Untitled, Silk-screen poster, Rene Mederos, Cuba, 1972. This untitled piece by Rene Mederos depicts the revolutionaries Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. The artist had owned the copyright to the piece which was passed down to his estate at the time of his death in 1996.
Screenshot taken from the "Bombing Science" website on 7/18/2007. An image by Shepard Fairey titled 'Cuban Rider' was being sold as a T-shirt. Author Lincoln Cushing recognized the image from his book Revolución: Cuban Poster Art, as well as David Kunzle’s book, Che Guevara: Icon, Myth and Message. Cushing informed the family of Rene Mederos and discovered that the estate had not given Shepard Fairey permission to use the image or print the graphic.
Shepard Fairey acknowledged the copyright infringement involved with the 'Cuban Rider' shirt and had it pulled from the clothing line. The Mederos estate was compensated for an unknown amount-- though some sources claim the family was only paid $1,000. Up until that point Shepard Fairey had not mentioned the Mederos piece he had “referenced”-- he had claimed it as his own.
Shepard Fairey opened up about the Rene Mederos controversy during a 2008 interview with Mother Jones. He said, “There's a piece by [Cuban artist] René Mederos that I used, thinking, "Well, how would I ever pay this guy anyway because he's in Cuba?" All I really changed about that graphic was I put flowers into the gun and put a peace logo in it. With Castro and Che on horses I was definitely manipulating the original intention, but at the same time, it was a really beautifully done poster and tweaking it for my anti-war agenda was a way to pass that graphic along. So when [Mederos' estate] contacted me, I immediately paid him the exact same royalty rate that any artist would be paid." Again, acknowledging copyright law is an issue of respect-- respect for yourself and respect for the creative community as a whole.
For more info about copyright laws read post below:
www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/10/at-heart-copyright-law-is-issue-of.html
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008
2:35 am
[my_art_space]
Tuesday, December 19th, 2006
8:46 pm
[scissorssunday]
Thursday, December 7th, 2006
6:56 am
[beatsoul]
Wednesday, June 28th, 2006
9:20 pm
[chrisburns]
artblogz SO:
I read a ton of blogs now recently, most notably Hypebeast.com and vinylpulse.com
for my info on how the art scene is doing.
you:
for art and toys and fashion and street culture and etc: what do you read?
Saturday, March 4th, 2006
9:56 pm
[chrisburns]
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006
10:15 pm
[chrisburns]
Thursday, February 23rd, 2006
10:49 pm
[noverflow]
TheGiant.org TheGiant.org is up and running!
We have over 330 prints in our database all but 11 with images.
For a list of all the obey prints known to exist at this time go here
He have a forum for all things obey here
An encyclopedia/ wiki with over 100 non print entries here.
and a gallery of all things obey here.
We currently are the worlds largest collection of obey giant/shepard fairey information. Everything but the print information (for control purposes) is open to editing by anyone who signs up. You only need to sign up as a member in the Forum, and you are added to the wiki, and the gallery. (to edit the wiki you must post a few times in the forum first)
Thursday, January 26th, 2006
11:28 pm
[chrisburns]
rox Shepard Fairey and Roxy Music ... $500.
I am not that big shot of a big shot art collector
quite yet, I think.
The story seems interesting though, I wonder
what this means for Fairey's future in art?
obeygiant.com
Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
11:28 pm
[chrisburns]
both Your Way 2 and 4 posters are now sold out,
as well as the MLK poster, as well as all of the
Motug eggs from obeygiant.com.
Also a note: This might sound strange at first,
but hear me out: I ordered like 6 eggs the first day
they were up on the site, they never arrived. When
I inquired about them, I found out that they were
down to 2 left, and that since they overlooked my
order, all they could do was send me the two and
refund the rest.
Chalk it up to experience (more than once) : Obey
might seem like a machine, but it's actually just a
few people working on everything. Respect that.
Or don't. You know, whatever.
8:46 am
[noverflow]
Help Anyone know the year or run number of any of these prints?
I just figured out the swindle, but these are the last of the unknowns. After this we will have minimum the year info on every obey print known at this time. Most have run number information as well.
For the list of known information please visit The Giant
http://www.thegiant.org
Saturday, January 21st, 2006
7:53 pm
[noverflow]
HELP Anyone know the dates of any of these prints????
P.S.
The definitive list is now at TheGiant.org
All City Propaganda
Swindle
Obey Playboy offset
Militerry Offset Litho
Lesser Gods Offset Litho
Obey Ripped Offset Print 24"x36"
Obey Offset Print medium-weight
Obey Offset Poster thin paper
Obey offset poster set 24"x 30"
3-Face poster thin paper set of 3
Obey offset poster set 24"x 30"
3-Face Image poster thick paper (sold as set of 3)
Kulture Deluxe
Flat Duo Jets
Lebowskifest
Shindig '98
Mod Art '99
Melvins
Dashboard Confessional
Flaming Lips New Year’s Eve
Prince
Queens of the Stone Age
bring the noise (of 300)
Lenin collage
LACMA
Nixon Money
Big Brother profile
Metropolis
World Influence
mission fist
Samuel collage
Riot Cop
Merry Kernowsky
Bink
Overnight Delivery (of 300)
Hit & Miss
Warning Surveillance
Zeppelin
Zapatista
mark of the giant
Suit
Lightning Bolt
Orange Exclamation
Revolution
Join the Posse
luggage tag (of 500)
Glasses
Giant Glow
AK47 1
AK47 2
tank
Leninist
Alife
Rocka Rolla ( 9x24 of 100)
Four Panel red face
I'm Not Merican
Giant Attention
Juxtapoz poster - large, unsigned/unnumbered
12:46 am
[queersolitude]
1:50 am
[chrisburns]
so i had the idea today that my obey sticker collection would
look better displayed all together rather than spread out over
pages in a sticker album, so i stuck them all to the wall
(with tape)
Thursday, January 19th, 2006
10:59 pm
[chrisburns]
Monday, January 16th, 2006
10:14 pm
[chrisburns]
6:41 pm
[noverflow]
Definitive List X Posted
This page is an in-the-works page. It aims at being a definitive list for all the prints Shepard Fairey has done. It has a lot of work to be done. Please visit the site and help me with years and print runs of unknown prints.
Thanks!
Thursday, January 12th, 2006
12:27 pm
[chrisburns]
HOY!
100 MOTUG BIG BROTHERS SIGNED on OBEYGIANT.COM
RIGHT NOW
these eggs are sold blind box, which means that you can't
see what you're getting, it's by chance, making whichever
egg is the coolest also the one that's worth the most.
These havn't been released yet except in a couple stores
across the US, but its already looking like
obey is going to be the most popular egg. here you can be
sure you get it, and the box is signed!
and they're only $10 each! fuckin a!
they'll only cost $9 once they're in the store!
p.s. they're limited edition, derrrrr
Monday, January 9th, 2006
7:56 pm
[chrisburns]
1:59 pm
[chrisburns]
8:50 pm
[poker1]
Thursday, January 5th, 2006
6:48 pm
[chrisburns]
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZburnschrisQQhtZ-1
Way big screenprint auction set from my Obey collection:
Black Sabbath (red) : 99/300
Black Sabbath (orange) : 99/300
MLK : 165/300
Swindle: 66/400
Tupac (Blue/Red) : 62/300
Slick Rick (red) : 192/300
Mr. Spray : Coolest poster ever. 87/300
Get Up Kids : obey website exclusive screenprint.
Thursday, December 29th, 2005
12:41 am
[queersolitude]
I started a blog recently that documents Los Angeles street art (and other places every once in a while):
http://memopisaellodo.blogspot.com
I'll be posting Obey Giant sightings. I have some recent ones in my dig cam that I have yet to upload...
Friday, December 23rd, 2005
11:57 am
[chrisburns]
Wednesday, December 7th, 2005
10:49 am
[bonniegrrl]
Shepard Fairey's Darth Vader Poster
Darth Vader Print by Shepard Fairey
Underground "Obey Giant" artist Shepard Fairey gives Star Wars a big dose of street cred with his unique portrait of Darth Vader. To celebrate the DVD release of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Fairey designed a one-of-a-kind print for Best Buy Reward Zone members that's now available at StarWarsShop here.
The Vader poster print designed by Fairey measures 14" x 11" and features Darth Vader with subtle accents of the legendary Andre the Giant Obey logo patterned throughout the background.
Current Mood: awake