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On the left is a poster by American artist Ben Shahn, created for the Office of War Information in 1942. It depicts a victim of a Nazi massacre that occurred in Lidice, Czechoslovakia.

The image on the right needs no explanation.

The resemblance is striking.

With the handcuffed wrists, the resemblance in this version, which uses a less iconic image of Abu Ghraib, is equally striking.

During a campaign season, I’m always looking for some sign of how a candidate might impact me directly as a freelance illustrator.

This year’s sign came when Republican nominee John McCain displayed complete contempt for copyright law — at a time when copyright is very much in the forefront of illustrators’ and other creatives’ minds because of orphan works legislation pending before Congress.

McCain, apparently thinking that intellectual property is his for the taking, used Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty” in a campaign ad mocking Democratic nominee Barack Obama. Browne, a musician well known for his progressive views, has sued for copyright infringement.

While the ad is believed to have run on television in Ohio and Pennsylvania, it also appeared on the internet until it was removed as a result of a cease-and-desist order.

But few, if any illustrators have the resources to fight copyright infringement in the way that Jackson Browne has. (And the orphan works legislation, as it’s currently written, provides less incentive and makes it more difficult for artists to pursue infringement claims, while making it easier for infringers to infringe.)

And the fact that the ad made it to the internet underlines one of the realities that illustrators, musicians and other artists face in the internet age: the ongoing abuse of intellectual property, particularly on the internet, where people seem to assume they can grab an image or a song and use it for their own purposes, without permission and without compensation. A presidential candidate should understand that intellectual property is just that — the artist’s property — and that artists make a living by selling rights to use that property. The orphan works legislation, which does have some merit, weakens artist’s legitimate rights as it is now written. I prefer a candidate who understands intellectual property, not one who steals it.

As Browne’s attorney Lawrence Iser says of McCain’s use of music without permission, “it’s ridiculous and it’s setting a terrible example.” [1]

This is not the first time the McCain campaign has done this. In fact, it’s almost a habit. McCain’s been sued by Abba (for using “Take a Chance on Me”)[2], Frankie Valli (”Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”)[3], John Mellencamp (”Pink Houses” and “My Country”)[4], John Hall (”Still the One”)[5] and most recently, Mike Myers of Wayne’s World (a “We’re Not Worthy” sketch used in a YouTube ad)[6].

While both candidates have issued position papers that uphold copyright law and acknowledge the need to deal with new copyright issues in the digital age, McCain’s repeated contempt for copyright and lack of respect for copyright holders suggests he has no understanding or appreciation of the issue. Barack Obama, a generation younger and considerably more computer-savvy, notes that “intellectual property is to the digital age what physical goods were to the industrial age”[7] demonstrates the understanding that McCain either doesn’t have, or does have but chooses to ignore.

And further, Obama actually addresses other issues of importance to artists, such as supporting increased funding for the NEA, providing affordable health care to artists, and supporting the Artist-Museum Partnership Act which would allow artists to deduct the fair market value of their work, rather than just the costs of the materials, when they make charitable contributions.

It’s tough to make a living as an illustrator. But I chose to be — in the words of Jackson Browne — a happy idiot and struggle for the legal tender. I believe Barack Obama will make that struggle just a little easier.

references: [1], [2], [3], [4a], [4b], [5], [6], [7] • photo credit

The Leader’s speech to last night’s gathering of The Party faithful last night kind of creeped me out.

Note: originally posted on September 3, 2008 on my blogspot blog.

This photo of Barack Obama is making the rounds on the internet. It’s obviously Photoshopped (in fact, the original, sans cigarette, appears elsewhere on the internet), and Photoshopped in comically poor fashion. Leaving aside the absurdity of the image for the moment, two of the more obvious flaws are the length of the filter, none of which is between the lips, and the fact that the lips aren’t parted. The only thing that surprises me is that whoever did it didn’t make it a joint. In an age when ten-year olds can master Photoshop, you’ve got to do better than this.

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I mean, anyone can throw a cigarette on top of a picture and create a preposterous and unconvincing impression of someone smoking a cigarette. This one of McCain (below) took just a couple of minutes, using Barack’s cigarette.

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But there’s a bigger point. Considering what’s at stake in this election, who needs cheap shots that are no loftier than, say, drawing devil’s horns on a candidate’s picture?* The internet is a place where fact and fiction, truth and lies are easily confused. As Joseph Goebbles noted, if you repeat a lie often enough, people will come to believe it. Images make especially powerful lies. A cheap joke that doesn’t merit dissemination beyond a middle school locker room can morph into a pack of rats scurrying through the bowels of the internet, popping up hither and yon and resembling fact to undiscerning eyes. While “Barack with Photoshopped Cigarette” isn’t particularly pernicious or masterfully executed, it’s the ubiquity of lying and its power in the internet age that makes me wonder how many perceptions are shifted and votes cast based on some slipshod Photoshop job.

*I know about all this. I went to Catholic school. In third grade religion class, we occasionally read Crusader magazine, which was handed out, read, and then collected afterward. One month, I made the mistake of drawing glasses and a mustache on a “pagan baby” that graced that month’s cover. I ended up face to face with the principal — one Sister John Christopher, who I always liked — and was told never to draw in school again (no doubt influencing my decision to become an illustrator.)

But that was third grade. And my masterpiece never made it beyond the principal’s office.

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That pesky little signpost. For some reason when I drove by I always misread this sign, which is next to a well-traveled road not far from my house. It appeared like this for maybe a year, until they replaced it with a permanent sign. But the juxtaposition of the big sign and little signpost always amused me. While it appears this way to passing motorists for only a second, I could never read the sign as it was intended to be read, perhaps because the first time I noticed it it was from this perspective.

[ click on the image to view full size ]

Undoubtedly, hitting 756* homeruns off major league pitchers is an achievement that takes amazing skill and tenacity, whether you’re on “the clear” or not. But Barry Bonds somehow reminds me of one Jim Gronen, age 14, winner of the 1973 All American Soapbox Derby. An examination after the race found that an electromagnet had been cleverly concealed in Jim’s car, so that a metal plate at the starting line—used to start the race—would pull the car forward to overcome inertia.

Jim was disqualified.

Note: this was originally posted on August 9, 2007 on my blogspot blog.

 Every once in a while I see a sign that strikes me as odd. This one is in a hotel lobby in downtown DC.