“Hope” in China or, Where Does Copyright Infringement End?

I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed the main image in today’s front section of the New York Times. The image (seen above on our site) captures a store in Beijing selling notebooks. On the lower right quadrant is a notebook with a front cover image featuring Shepard Fairey’s “Hope” poster. Aside from obvious proof of global piracy and infringement, a couple of questions come to mind: whose copyright is the young woman in the picture infringing, the AP’s, Mannie Garcia’s, or Shepard Fairey’s copyright? Assuming the Associated Press or Mannie Garcia ends up winning the court battle over Fairey’s use of the AP’s photograph, is Fairey liable for making the “Hope” image available for further global infringement? I’m going to research this, but if anyone knows the answer to the second question, please e-mail me at sergio_sarmiento@clancco.com.

Tags: Associated Press, china, hope poster, infringement, Mannie Garcia, Obama, Shepard Fairey