viz.

Image credit: Screen shot of APimages.com

A recent development in Shepard Fairey's ongoing legal battle with the Associated Press sent me thinking through some of the issues surrounding large private, not-for-profit, and commercial archives of stock photography and photojournalism.  Last year, the AP claimed that Fairey violated copyright laws when he based his "Hope" poster for the Obama campaign on one of their photographs.  Fairey countered that he was protected under fair use, but his situation suffered a setback last week when he admitted to knowingly submitting as evidence images that were different than those under consideration in the trial.  While this case raises several interesting questions about the doctrine of fair use and visual allusion, I am also curious about the extent of influence the Associated Press has on our daily interactions with visual images.  How does this massive news agency--with over 10 million images in its library--shape our access to and understanding of contemporary photojournalism?