Shepard Fairey Talks About Obama Poster Image Theft

Heard while running around before the flurry of holiday activities were upon us, NPR‘s Alex Cohen spent some time with designer Shepard Fairey, talking to him about his work creating his now wildly popular/familiar Obama posters and how he quickly lost control of the design, finding his work being sold on eBay and illegally copied and slapped onto signs, t-shirts, and everything in between, much of which is being sold on street corners (at least here in Chicago anyway) and at the DNC‘s blowout last week. Yet he created the posters as a way of supporting the candidate, not as a money-making endeavor, so he’s stuck in an uncomfortable spot, wanting to aid the campaign, but also finding it upsetting that he’s been robbed by shameless merchandisers. It’s an interesting piece, particularly when you reflect on Fairey’s career, which has largely been built upon borrowed images.

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