![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/misc\/jessica\/Jess_04.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt isn\u2019t hard to understand why photographers want credit for their work. Most of us live and breathe our craft, and the best among us sacrifice much in pursuit of ever-better images. We envision. We direct. We create. We go days without sleep. And in the end, the art that results is ours, and we want credit for it.<\/p>\n
So what happens when a well-known artist asks a photographer for permission to use their image for one of their art pieces, then fails to honor any of the license terms that the photographer sets forth?<\/p>\n
My copyrighted image of cancer survivor Jessica Ikenberry struck a chord with pop artist Shepard Fairey, who contacted me about using it as the basis for an art piece to be auctioned off to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Long a fan of Armstrong\u2019s book \u201cIt\u2019s Not About the Bike,\u201d and a cancer survivor myself, I of course was interested in contributing.<\/p>\n
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I had previously read a number of articles wherein Fairey discussed his opinions on \u201cfair use\u201d and \u201ctransformative works,\u201d and was interested in the outcome of his then-still-pending lawsuit with the Associated Press (AP) regarding his then-disputed use of the Mannie Garcia image for his Obama \u201cHope\u201d poster. \u00a0Still, I was open to the discussion, and I told him via phone and email that he could use my image provided that he agreed to my very simple license terms. First, I wanted credit for my work, and second, I wanted the opportunity to photograph him with the art piece in his studio before it was shipped to auction.<\/p>\n
He agreed to my terms verbally and in an email, then asked me for a B&W hi-res version of my image, which I provided. He also discussed a different crop of my image, as he thought the in-your-face nature of the entire image might garner less money at auction. I agreed, and he later sent me a mockup of what he was working on. I said, \u201cCool,\u201d and waited for him to contact me about shooting the finished art piece.<\/p>\n
Months later, without having been contacted by Fairey as promised, I found that the resulting \u201cJessica\u201d art piece was prominently displayed in a traveling art exhibition called Stages 09, jointly produced by Nike and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and then showing at a gallery in Paris, France. The \u201cJessica\u201d piece was also featured prominently on the Stages 09 web site, the Lance Armstrong Foundation web site and the Nike web site. Further, a making-of video about the \u201cJessica\u201d piece was featured on all three sites.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/misc\/jessica\/Jess_ArtPiece.jpg\")
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A friend went to the Paris gallery to check the signage and gallery brochure, and did not find any photo credit. I looked at the Stages 09, Lance Armstrong Foundation and Nike web sites, and did not find any photo credit. I watched the making-of video \u2013 a piece which centered around Jessica\u2019s story and Fairey\u2019s creation of the \u201cJessica\u201d art piece \u2013 for which my image was the source material, and again did not find any photo credit (though Fairey did mention \u201cthe original photo\u201d). Further, by the time I found out about its existence, the press release and making-of video had been copied to countless other web sites.<\/p>\n
It became clear that I, as the creator of the original portrait, was not credited in any way nor as agreed. Interestingly, the person who photographed the \u201cJessica\u201d art piece for the Stages 09 web site did receive credit.<\/p>\n
I was not told that the piece would be used for anything other than an auction. I was not told about Nike\u2019s involvement, nor about the traveling art exhibition (which ultimately was displayed in Paris, New York and Miami). I was not given the opportunity to go to the studio to shoot the piece. I was not credited in the documentation hanging next to the piece, nor in the show program. And I was not credited in the video made about the \u201cJessica\u201d piece, nor on any of the web sites where the \u201cJessica\u201d piece was featured. Simply, none of my license terms were met.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/misc\/jessica\/Working_Gallery.jpg\")
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I called renowned copyright attorney Carolyn E. Wright<\/a> for advice (www.photoattorney.com), and she took my case. While I could share some very interesting quotes and details about what ultimately ensued, I won\u2019t. Suffice it to say that after months of legal back and forth, the law was on my side, and in the matter of Douglass v. Fairey, I emerged victorious, and a confidential settlement was reached.<\/p>\n Soon after, my attorney forwarded me a new AP release which stated Fairey had admitted \u201che sued the AP under false pretenses by lying about which AP photograph he used to make the [Obama] \u2018Hope\u2019 and \u2018Progress\u2019 posters,\u201d and admitted that he \u201cfabricated and attempted to destroy other evidence in an effort to bolster his fair use case and cover up previous lies and omissions.\u201d I could provide details of my reaction to this news, but let\u2019s just say it was not good.<\/p>\n A month or so later, New York gallery owner James Danziger blogged some photos he had taken in New York of a Stages 09 promotional poster featuring the \u201cJessica\u201d art piece (photos reproduced below with his permission). Underneath the image of the \u201cJessica\u201d art piece, in very tiny text, was my credit. James wrote this particular blog entry (read it here<\/a>) specifically because he had never before seen a credit appear alongside any of Fairey\u2019s works.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t actually have a copy of that promotional poster, but I finally got my credit. A poster of the \u201cJessica\u201d art piece was also issued, and proceeds from the sale of the now-sold-out poster were donated to cancer charities (see the poster below).<\/p>\n For my part, I think that fighting for your rights is always worthwhile. Fairey\u2019s art may be better known than mine, but his art is no more or less important, and his rights as an artist are no more or less important than mine.<\/p>\n I still don\u2019t know why any artist would deny another artist credit for their work, especially when their own work is based upon another person\u2019s original creation. If any artist thinks that the creators of photographic images are not as worthy of credit as the creators of paintings, multimedia collages or other types of art, then I humbly submit that disdain for another artist\u2019s medium has no place in the art world.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/misc\/jessica\/promoposter_danziger.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/misc\/jessica\/Jess_Poster_01.jpg\")
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