Obey 1984

Image source from http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

Red China

image source from http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

So last week I blogged about “The Power of  Poster Design”.  While I was reading about Obama’s poster “HOPE” thru the internet last week, I found a very interesting online article “Obey Plagiarist Shepard Fairey” from a Los Angeles artist Mark Vallen. I don’t know who is Shepard Fairey until then.

For what I have read, Obama’s publicist, Yosi Sergant, suggested Fairey to create some art in support of Obama in late October 2007, and  Fairey got the permission from Obama campaign to design an Obama poster right before Super Tuesday.  He designed the original poster “Progress”  in one day. On October 2008, Fairey claimed he has printed  500,000 posters, 1,000,000 stickers, clothing, and other items with the image sold through his website.  If you are interested in Shepard Fairey,  just search on the internet, you will find tons of information about him along with the accusations.

Inspiration or plagiarism?

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own without  giving the credit to the creator; to “inspire” means to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration.  For what I have read so far, I will have to agree with Mark Vallen.