Associated Press not buying Hope artist's story 'spin'

The Associated Press said on Tuesday that it had filed a motion to amend its counterclaim against the artist Shepard Fairey and that his explanation Friday about which photograph he had used to create a poster of Barack Obama was “simply not credible.” Mr. Fairey, who created the widely seen “Hope” poster of Mr. Obama from a photograph taken for The A.P., filed a pre-emptive lawsuit in February against that news organization, saying that his use of the photograph was covered by fair-use rules. The A.P. filed a countersuit in March, saying Mr. Fairey misappropriated its rights to that image. On Friday, Mr. Fairey admitted that he lied in court papers about using a different photograph of Mr. Obama than the one The A.P. has alleged, and that he created false documents to cover the discrepancy. In a statement, The A.P. said that Mr. Fairey “concocted” this latest explanation to “spin those bad acts in the best light possible to the court and the public.” In its filing the news organization said, “It is simply not credible that Fairey somehow forgot in January 2009 which source image he used to create the infringing works, which were completed only a year earlier in January 2008.”