Posted on 01/26/2014 2:34:47 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
George Zimmerman continues to be an attention starved horrible human being.
Zimmerman has continued to keep himself in the public eye since being acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin–and now he wants us to know that even he thinks the justice system is a joke.
Just a month ago, in between run ins with the police, Zimmerman decided he fancied himself a painter and sold a painting on eBay.
It was an American flag, with the words “God One Nation with Liberty and Justice For All.”
It sold for $100,099.99.
His follow up painting is even more appalling, classless, and utterly tasteless.
The painting depicts Florida State Attorney Angela Corey, pinching her fingers together, at the press conference when she announced the long awaited charges against George Zimmerman.
The painting is a direct copy of a photo belonging to the AP, taken by Rick Wilson, a freelancer.
Zimmerman’s plagiarized painting is rather ironic for someone who was so concerned about stealing that he confronted, shot, and killed an unarmed teenager. Plagiarism is, after all, stealing.
Zimmerman further had the audacity to add the taunting quote “I have this much respect for the American judicial system – Angie C.”
Continuing to taunt, as if he & Corey are best friends and he can call her by a nickname, he’s titled the painting “Angie.”
The art world is unamused, as I’m sure is Angela Corey.
Jason Edward Kaufman, a contributing editor at Art+Auction, said the painting looks like a “bloodbath.”
Andrew Russeth, art critic for the New York Observer, pegged the paintings as a “desperate cry for attention.”
An art critic for the Village Voice, Christian Viveros-Faune, said Zimmerman’s work fits right in with other “murderabilia,” comparing his works to paintings done by cult leader Charles Manson and serial killer John Wayne Gacy. (Except I’ll bet that even John Wayne Gacy and Charles Manson were above plagiarizing paintings.)
The AP and photographer Rick Wilson are also highly unamused. They’ve threatened legal action against Zimmerman, who seems to be the only one deriving any sort of amusement from this.
Zimmerman tweeted that he wasn’t worried and revealed his plans to sue the AP, saying that whatever the APhis suit of them is over. (No one seems to have any idea what he’s talking about; he probably doesn’t even know himself.)
The AP’s threat is very real–it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve had to take legal action for similar situations.
Artist Shephard Fairey was taken to court in 2012 over using an AP photo for the Obama “Hope” posters. Fairey was found guilty.
Paul Colford, a spokesperson for the AP, told politico.com:
“George Zimmerman clearly directly copied an AP photo to create his painting of Florida State Attorney Angela Corey. The AP has sent a cease-and-desist letter asserting its copyright in the photo to the lawyer who recently represented Mr. Zimmerman. That lawyer has responded, and though she no longer represents Mr. Zimmerman, she will be forwarding the letter to him today.”
“You just can’t do that. You just can’t take somebody else’s work and make it your own,” Rick Wilson told the Orlando Sentinel.
Wilson, the photographer, has retained a lawyer and said Zimmerman can expect action taken in conjunction with the AP if he continues to use the image.
The painting has not yet been listed on eBay, but tweets by George Zimmerman’s brother, Robert Zimmerman, suggest that they plan to sell the painting privately.
I also hope they’re planning for court, but I guess once you get away with murder, plagiarism seems like child’s play.
All you have to do is call it a rendition. I have Picasso’s hanging all over my house. Since I can’t afford one I just copy it and have it framed. As long as you don’t advertise it as an original you should be OK.
George Zimmerman will be like a Powerball winner when the dust settles. No wonder his girlfriend wants him back, she can smell the Benjamins.
Doubtful.
From linkedin:
Her work is regularly featured in VIBE/VIBE Vixen Magazine, and The Source magazine.
Where is that from?
GZ may or may not need permission. Most FR posts take excerpts from copyright material. This is conditionally legal - and the source can sometimes but not always change the conditions by complaining. The doctrine is called fair use, and the rules can get quite complicated. Using a small excerpt for the purpose of commentary is generally permitted unless the copyright holder specifies otherwise. parody has even broader rules with less recourse for the copyright holder, and Zimmerman may win under freedom of expression, since he modified copyright work for the purpose of political commentary, which is the application with the loosest restrictions on fair use. Only the courts can answer this question in this case, but I think it's on the borderline with a slight edge for GZ.
” Funny to see the art critics with their panties in a bunch, those hypocrite pigs.”
Today, “Art” can be a booger, with a hair in it!
1. Has the material you have taken from the original work been transformed by adding new expression or meaning?
2. Was value added to the original by creating new information, new aesthetics, new insights, and understandings?
If it is parody - and this certainly is - then it is given broad latitude. And then there is the issue that Zimmerman is engaging in political speech which is the most hallowed of protected activities.
Like Warhol's Campbell Soup painting, Zimmerman's work is certainly transformative.
I won't enter the debate on artistic merit. It is irrelevant to the discussion at hand.
See my post above. I think it is safely across a clear bright line.
I think George is going to lose royally.
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That is not a copy of their photo. Several things were changed. The cobalt blue curtains in the photo background, gone in his painting. The alizarin red dress, gone in painting, replaced with a yellow ocher, orange under painting, topped and textured with carmine red. The face is turned into a caricature due to the harsh and heavy rendering.
Let’s put it this way, even if Zim does have to pay for using that photo, in the end, it will become worth it. Now, the painting has been advertised for free around the world. Good for Zim. I do wonder, what are his relatives doing for income, can they now show their faces in public again? Shellie is likely shopping for a Victoria Secrets dress to wear when she tries to win Zim’s ‘love’ (I.e. income from paintings) back. Those don’t ususally come in her size though.
"Or... I could put out how much U offered me 2.."
I find that to be the most interesting part of this article.
Indeed. Sounds like he’s holding a lot of cards.
Yeah, but Shepard Fairey took the AP photo of Obama and removed the background, made it surreal with red and blue coloration, gave it obvious political meaning with the word “HOPE” — yet was still nailed for copyright infringement.
>>He’d better be careful with the copyright situation though.<<
Parody is protected by the First Amendment. See the case of Roy Orbison vs 2 Live Crew over the song “Pretty Woman.” The author of this piece could hardly be more stupid.
A porn actress, from the sound of it.
Because of Fairey, is why I added that even if Zim is guilty of infringement, it will still be worth it. Shepherd Fairey will always be famous (or infamous) for that iconic painting. He owns that image forever, just as Zim now OWNS this new version of Angie, it has been ‘etched in our minds’, as John Kerry would say. That notch or public insult to Angie will always be on Georges belt, as a point that was made clear. In his painting, Angie seems to be lecturing from the pits of hell!
Could be he wanted AP to come after him. He flushed them out and got them to put him in the news which gives him the microphone to talk about what they did to him.
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