The Associated Press is Demanding George Zimmerman Halt the Sale of This Painting. Here's Why.
Watch out art world, famous artist/somehow-acquitted-murderer George Zimmerman is back with another masterpiece. After somehow selling his first work for a shocking $100,099.99, Zimmerman put brush to canvas again and made magic.
The painting depicts Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, the lawyer who led the case charging him with second-degree murder after he gun-downed an unarmed Trayvon Martin in 2012, along with her infamous quotation "I have this much respect for the American judicial system." It sure is ... something.
George's brother Robert took to Twitter to showcase the painting and get some excitement going for a potential auction. There's only one problem, Zimmerman stole the image from the Associated Press.
According to the BBC, the AP is demanding that Zimmerman halt the sale of his newest painting because of its likeness to an AP-owned photo. An AP spokesperson said Zimmerman "clearly directly copied an AP photo" of Corey that was taken during an April 2012 press conference in which she announced that Zimmerman would be facing murder charges.
Image Credit: AP
If a work is different enough that it constitutes an original piece of artistic expression, but in this case, the AP is totally right. Because Zimmerman's painting is "substantially similar" to the original photo, he's in clear violation of copyright law and will have to either halt its sale or pay damages to the AP. The AP seems to have a pretty open-and-shut case, but it's unclear whether Zimmerman will respond accordingly. One thing's for sure, what is and isn't legal hasn't stopped Zimmerman before.