Shepard Fairey: Hero or Hypocrite?

[NOTE: Update at bottom of the post.]

This week, the Pittsburgh City Paper reports that now-legendary street artist Shepard Fairey -- he of the Obama "HOPE" poster -- is suing local graphic designer Larkin Werner over the use of the word "OBEY" in association with Werner's own indie art project, Steelerbaby.

In a nutshell, one of many designs for Steelerbaby merchandise says, simply, "Obey Steelerbaby." Fairey's lawyers claim the use of the word "Obey" is trademark infringement, because Fairey himself first became famous for a series of street art featuring an image of Andre the Giant (remember him?) and the word "OBEY" -- which he then evidently trademarked at some point over the past 20 years.

The ironies, hypocrisies and questions raised by this story are numerous, including:

* Fairey was originally sued by the WWF (now WWE) for his copyright-infringing Andre the Giant images in the first place. But who really "owns" an image? And if that image is of a person, doesn't that person have the final say over where his or her image is allowed to be used?

* Fairey has been under fire from the Associated Press, who claim his Obama "HOPE" image is a blatant infringement on a photo they own the rights to. Fairey's response is that the "HOPE" poster is a derivative work, which means he has the right to use the original image as a basis for something new. If that's his defense against the AP, why wouldn't it also apply in Steelerbaby's case?

* Larkin has yet to be sued by the Pittsburgh Steelers (or the Kewpie doll company), either of which would probably have a much better reason for doing so than a corporation founded by a fellow "street artist."

* Can you realistically trademark a commonly used word?

* At what point does an artist cease to be "street" and transition to becoming "corporate"? (Is it when your work is installed in The National Portrait Gallery? Or is it when you countersue the AP?)

* Am I the only person who thinks now is a great time to push for wider adoption of Creative Commons licenses, as opposed to copyrights and trademarks?

What do YOU think? (Because we already know what Gawker and Steelerbaby think...)

UPDATE (March 23, 2009): It seems Shepard Fairey dropped the lawsuit against Steelerbaby.

Stop Telling Me I'm Amazing. I Know.

When was the last time someone came up to you and launched into a glowing report on how smart / talented / wonderful you are, and you preemptively cut them off with two words:

"I know."

I'm pretty sure your answer is "never," because doing so is considered rude, ungrateful, egotistical or any other personality trait we apply to celebrities who've lost touch with "who they are" and "where they come from." (Evidently, remembering "where you come from" implies that you should never admit that you aren't there anymore.)

Instead, conventional wisdom mandates that such exchanges must always proceed as follows:

Fan: "You're amazing!"

Hero: "Shucks. No I'm not..."

Fan: "Yes you SO are! And here's why!" [produces voluminous list of rationales]

Hero: "Well, if you say so..." [smiles sheepishly and stares at his own $4,000 shoes]

Such interactions imply that having enough confidence in your own work that you don't need to pretend to be validated by the words of others is somehow a character flaw.

But why?

Because the fan must also feel validated by the hero.

The Inverse Value Proposition of Being a Fan

In the eyes of the fan, the hero already appears to have everything. The hero is getting paid to do something that the fan considers to be a dream job, and by definition, having a dream job means that the possessor of said job would naturally be forever thankful. (After all, if the fan were in his hero's shoes, he'd be thankful.)

Conversely, if the hero no longer appears to be thankful for external validation, that means the hero has "changed," and it now becomes the job of the "fan" to instead tell the hero that he sucks. This is because the fan must feel as though his outreach to the hero is justified by imparting information on him that the hero would never otherwise know (or at least admit to).

All of which means that the rules of modern interaction were obviously written by fans who made the mistake of approaching too many heroes who were confident enough in their own abilities to not realize they needed "others" to validate them. (This makes sense, because their heroes were too busy doing heroic things to bother deciding how they should feel about them; that job fell to the fans, who had a lot of free time on their hands.)

I'd Like to Forget All the Little People

The bizarre lesson being taught here is that being confident enough in our own abilities to not constantly require external validation is somehow wrong. It's not. Not that you'd know that from the hyper-self-fascinated world of social media, where every view / follower / comment is analyzed to ensure maximum validation for the recipient, but it's true:

It's okay to be confident in yourself.

You don't have to be a douche about it, but you're certainly welcome to admit to yourself -- and, yes, to others -- that you are good at what you do, that you do stand out from the crowd and that you really did expect to succeed all along.

And if you're so good that you can be a douche about it and still remain at the top of your game, let's be honest: there's only so much time in the day, and sometimes douchebaggery is the finer part of brevity. So accept the obligatory applause, walk away, and get back to being a hero.

Because if you're good enough at being a hero, the fans will write your legend for you... whether you want them to or not.

Image by Our Hero.

How Much Is Your Reputation Worth?

Until last week, Billy Donovan was the head coach of the University of Florida men's basketball team. He'd just coached the team to two consecutive NCAA Championships, something that hadn't been done in 16 years. He was on top of the world.

He signed a huge contract extension with Florida. He was set for life.

Then, last week, he changed his mind and accepted the head coaching job with the NBA's Orlando Magic. Sources claimed he'd always been interested in making the jump from college to the pros, and that this represented the best opportunity -- a 2-time champion, at his peak, leaving to coach a team located near his family? What better situation could he ask for?

Staying put, apparently, because it's being reported today that Donovan has changed his mind again and will remain at the University of Florida after all.

In addition to the financial repercussions of such "decision-making" -- some sources are claiming Donovan had already signed his contract with the Magic, which means this about-face will likely cost him millions of dollars in breach-of-contract payouts -- the past week has also turned Donovan into possibly the least trustworthy coach in sports.

How does someone manage to go from the absolute top of his profession to a punchline in only 7 days? Simple: He didn't think about his reputation.

If you thought war hero John Kerry was a flip-flopper, how do you explain the prerogative of a man who signs (or doesn't sign, depending on the source) various contracts, only to leapfrog from one to the other when the situation becomes too complicated?

How do you expect the athletes he's hired to coach -- at any level -- to take a word he says seriously? Or his employers, who must now perpetually believe Donovan is one bad weekend away from quitting on a contract?

I'm sure we're not hearing the whole story -- we never do, in these cases -- but the circumstantial evidence has mounted to make EVERYONE in this situation look, to one degree or another, like a fool. And none moreso than Donovan, whose sterling reputation is now permanently warped.

How Does This Apply to You?

Whether you're a freelancer, a social media creator, a boss or an employee, you operate under agreements and deadlines. You have clients and audiences that expect you to deliver on those promises.

Even if you've never signed a contract or issued a mandate, the people you work with / for still have developed a perception of who you are based upon your past behavior.

EVERY CHOICE YOU MAKE IMPACTS HOW YOU'RE PERCEIVED BY THE WORLD.

(It also impacts how you see yourself too.)

If you say your next podcast will be up on Monday and it isn't, you can't complain that your audience didn't come back a day later to see if you'd caught up.

If you tell a client the project will be ready for review by Wednesday and it isn't, you can't blame them for not wanting to work with you again.

People in every walk of life complain that they work themselves to the bone every day for no reward, while others are able to skate by on reputation alone. This is partially true. But the bigger picture is that the people "skating by" are actually doing just as much work, if not more: not only did they have to work themselves to the bone to reach the level of success they've attained, but now they have to maintain their reputations.

Next time Billy Donovan signs a contract, the other party will know the piece of paper is worthless.

Next time you tell someone you'll "have it done by Friday," will they believe you?

Should they?

Be the Hero

As I mentioned previously, there seems to be a worldwide subconscious need for "heroes" these days. Times are tough, positivity is waning and people in power seem ignorant to our needs. Everyone is looking for someone to believe in.

Why not be your own hero?

Reality Check

Every so often, when I seem overwhelmed, landlocked or depressed, I'll ask myself, "What would the ideal me do in this situation?"

It's the agnostic's equivalent of "What Would Jesus Do?" It also addresses the same issue: if I were perfect, what would I do in this situation?

Well, I'm not perfect. But I CAN improve. And, realistically, I CAN be a much better person than the one I am now.

So what would the version of me that I can look up to, the version that I would want to be around, the version I (were I seeing myself through the eyes of others) would want for a boyfriend, a son, a dad, a friend... what would THAT version of me do?

Find Your Superpower

Yes, it's geeky, but the analogy applies: all of us have a skill or two that sets us apart from everyone else we know.

Think about your own friends. Ask around. Who are the "experts" at certain things? Or, more accurately, when you think of a person, what do you immediately think of in conjunction WITH that person?

For example, in my mind, Chris Brogan is synonymous with "connectivity." Chris is a community developer, he's a bridge builder, he's a people person. That's his superpower.

Likewise, Christopher Penn is the MacGyver of finance; he could probably find a way to monetize your bathroom if you gave him ten minutes and a paperclip. That's his "mutant ability."

And iJustine is the closest thing I've seen to the apex of the perfect geek storm: equal parts attractive, self-deprecating, nerd and dork. As such, life just falls into her lap. She doesn't control it; things just happen to her. She's a web magnet -- that's her "special ability."

Me? I'm not sure I know what my ability is, but I have a few guesses. (Quite often, these elements are best observed by others who don't see the "alter ego" of the individual every day, and aren't distracted by both the pros AND the cons...)

Take Action

Of course, knowing what your superpower is doesn't help if you don't use it. And, since no one wants to take meaningless action, you won't feel fulfilled until you move toward something you're passionate about.

- Is there a cause you feel strongly about? How can you use your abilities to help that cause succeed?

- Is there a flaw in your current business that you feel needs to be repaired? How can you fix it?

- Is there a brand new business or organization you feel needs to be built? How can you create it?

- Is there a specific person you know of who needs help? What can you do to assist them?

Once you identify the one thing you're most passionate about AT THIS MOMENT, decide what action needs to be taken next to solve the problem. Even if it's just a 10 % action, it's better than no action at all.

Form a Team

Have you ever noticed that Captain America, Spider-Man and Batman can handle just about anything on their own, until a problem becomes so gigantic that they actually need help?

Terrorists? Drug dealers? Stilt-Man? No problem.

But when alien armadas, natural disasters and pissed-off gods come to town, very few heroes can stand on their own. That's why we have The Avengers, The X-Men and The Justice League.

Since new media, at its heart, is all about community, it helps to build connections you can call on when the going gets tough. When a problem is larger than you can easily handle on your own, what other skills (that you don't possess) would help you solve that problem faster? How quickly can you get the word out?

Seek out others who are using their skills to accomplish greater things. Ask what you can do to help. Join forces. Win bigger.

All Change Starts With You

Obviously The Avengers don't come knocking door-to-door, asking if any two-bit hero off the street wants to join. They need to know a person is serious about getting the job done in the first place.

That means you need to take action. Even one small step, and then another, until you're no longer walking; you're running. After that, the rest comes naturally:

Run until you can fly.