I don't really write about it very much, but intellectual property law is something I find very interesting — especially where it intersects with more philosophical concerns surrounding what it means to be creative and how (or if) works of art contain meaning and communicate intent.

So it is with great interest that I listened to an NPR show devoted to the brewing legal controversy surrounding Shephard Fairey's iconic Barack Obama "Hope" poster. I'm sure you're familiar with the image, which looks like this:

The background on this is that Shephard Fairey is a "street artist" who's work consists primarily of re-appropriating and re-contextualizing images — if you've ever seen the Andre the Giant "Obey" sticker, that's Shephard Fairey (he also does advertising, which I mentioned once before).

Anyway, when Fairey created the Obama poster, he used an A.P. photograph for reference, about which Fairey has always been upfront. But recently the photographer who took the photo, Mannie Garcia, found out it was his and now both he and the A.P. want to get paid.

Fairey, meanwhile, says his use of the image is "fair use," which is to say he's allowed to use it under U.S. copyright law in this manner without paying or obtaining permission from the copyright holder. The use, Fairey argues, is fair because (among other things) his poster transforms the photo from its original purpose (to document a "Save Darfour" event) to a new one (to portray Barack Obama as politically inspirational).

This, of course, opens up a whole can of worms. Let's assume Fairey did nothing to the image — he merely inserted into his poster layout. Can this constitute a transformation? Our first instinct is to say no. Yet my inclusion of the image in this post doesn't alter the poster in any way and my use is almost certainly fair.

Ah, but Fairey says he did alter the image... which is obvious enough; the poster is stylized and the photo is not. If we imagine that Fairey looked at the photo and then created his poster out of whole cloth using the photo as a reference (as many painters do), we would probably say that Fairey did something rather creative. But would we feel differently if he "just" ran it through a Photoshop filter?

Another way to look at it: let's imagine Fairey was able to pose Obama in exactly the same way as the original photo, in the exact same place, under the exact same lighting conditions, used the exact same camera, lens and settings and ultimately created a photo that looked 100% identical to Mannie Garcia's photo — would Fairey have violated Garcia's copyright?

Fairey makes it out that he is a Fair Use crusader in all of this, and as someone who has been disenchanted by our copyright system's inability to adapt to the realities of the internet age, I wish that he was. But Fairey is involved in another Fair Use case where he's on the opposite side.

Baxter Orr — himself a Fairey-esque artist — decided to make a confusingly obtuse "question everything" statement about Fairey's own obtuse "question everything" statement by placing a surgical mask over Shephard's iconic "Obey Giant" face.

What did Fairey do? He sent Orr a cease-and-desist order. (Read more here.) Apparently everyone wants to get paid.

I don't really get a chance to do print ads very much anymore. With billboards, you have to get in and get out so quickly, it's a totally different kind of conversation. With print ads, you're still relying on an eye-catching image or witty headline to grab the viewer's attention ... but if you get that attention, you can talk with a little more depth and intimacy. With that in mind, I am pretty proud of my latest ad. The design is nothing to write home about (in fact, I'm not totally sure about it) but I like the copy and the concept. This would appear in the Better Business Bureau guide, which I'm assuming is read by business owners. Let me know your thoughts.

(Click to view larger)

As my 28th birthday approaches, I thought I might take a look back at some of my favorite t-shirts over the years. These are all ones that I don't have any more.

Free Cheese: The Tour '94 t-shirt
During my long-haired phase, this t-shirt and I were pretty inseparable. I think it was intended to promote Mystery Science Theater 3000 but it made absolutely no sense, which is one of the reasons I loved it so much. I wore it until it literally disintegrated.

Black Square t-shirt
This was an interesting t-shirt. It just had a big black square on the front and on the back it said something like, "I wear black on the outside because black is how I feel on the inside." I always thought that bit was absolutely preposterous but there was something about this t-shirt that appealed to me. I have no idea what happened to it.

Independent Film Channel t-shirt
This was a pretty good one. Not only did it announce that I'm one of those pretentious independent-film types but it was also with me as I received my first ever professional lap dance. The stripper actually asked me if I worked for the channel. For some reason, I said no. Eventually, this got some holes it (you know, from all the grinding) and I had to retire it.

Evanescence t-shirt
I picked this one up when I went to see Evanescence in St. Louis. Or maybe I ordered it online, I can't really remember. The important thing is that I really liked the way it looked with that blue bandana. I eventually donated the shirt to Goodwill as an exercise in letting go of favorite possessions.

Captain t-shirt
Speaking of Goodwill, this was one of those rare Goodwill finds that makes all the fruitless trips worthwhile. Not only was this t-shirt super soft, but it also said "Captain" on it and had a graphic of a boat's steering wheel. Since I am not known for my nautical prowess, this was funny. Anyway, I wore the shirt proudly for a number of years. I actually tried to give this away twice, both times to boyfriends of girls that I knew. On the second attempt, I was successful.

Fender t-shirt
This t-shirt, which I scored from T.J. Maxx, featured a very cool graphic of a phoenix (one of my favorite symbols). It was always a little too small for me but, armed with the possibly inaccurate beliefs that (a) it was flattering and (b) made me look like a rocker, I wore it all the time anyway. Eventually, I gave it away. (Are you noticing a pattern?)

Loyalty/Virtue/Temperance/Honor t-shirt
I got this one from the Express. I actually still have it. But recently I fell asleep with a fancy pen in my hand and it ended up leaking all over this shirt. So even though I find the notion of wearing around words like "Virtue" and "Honor" appealing, I am less enthusiastic about wearing big ink blots.

I'm not sure which rendition of this cheesy romance song is better, so I thought I'd post them both.

So I'm working on this ad for an addiction recovery service and, as usual, I start my process by trying to find a photograph to build my copy and design around. But as I'm looking through the stock photos available under the keyword "addiction," I noticed an alarming trend. See if you can pick up on it.