When street artist Shepard Fairey created the now-iconic Barack Obama “Hope” poster, he had no idea it would become the unofficial visual centerpiece of the Obama presidential campaign, the subject of several magazine covers and the recent acquisition of the U.S. National Portrait Gallery. But it did.  It also attracted the attention of the Associated Press, whose photographer Mannie Garcia owns the copyright of the photo from which Fairey’s based his poster.

Fairey is no stranger to controversy, having dealt with criticism in the past for appropriating others’ artwork into his own. The issue with the Associated Press is only his latest. Fairey believes his poster falls under the legal definition of fair use. Lawyers on both sides are working on an amicable settlement.

Representing Fairey in his copyright infringement case with the Associated Press is Anthony Falzone, executive director of Stanford University’s Fair Use Project.  Falzone will talk about the Fairey case and issues related to copyright fair use during a Section of Intellectual Property Law luncheon on Saturday, Aug. 1 from noon – 1:30 p.m. at the InterContinental Chicago.