NORML OBAMA POSTER....

Fair-use cases are often a blogger’s dream, what with their angry celebrities, well-known (or at least visible) works of art, and strident accusations of theft.

But as much fun as J.D. Salinger, Woody Allen and J.K. Rowling have provided us over the months on the fair-use front, the following just might take the cake as Best Fair-Use Smackdown Ever. Click here for the WaPo blog post.

It hasn’t yet boiled into a lawsuit yet, but it’s got serious potential. At issue: a poster created by folks at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (aka NORML), which uses a photo of Barack Obama as an undergraduate at Occidental College, circa 1980.

obamaThe picture shows Obama puffing on a cigarette (of the tobacco type). People at NORML took the image, dressed it up a little to make it look like Obama’s puffing on some serious Early Pearly Maui (or something), and stuck it on their Summer of Love-inspired promotional poster for their annual conference. The message on the poster: “Yes We Cannabis.”

But it’s not Obama who’s taken his anger over the poster public, rather Lisa Jack, an Obama classmate back at Oxy, who took the picture. She reportedly had no idea the photo had been used until the Post told her on Tuesday.

“They do not have my permission,” said Jack, now a psychology professor in Minnesota, to the Post. These photos “are absolutely not to be used in this way. … I really made a grand effort to do this properly, and I’m very irritated.”

NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre didn’t seem to troubled. “With very little adulteration, she placed what appears to be a cannabis cigarette” in the president’s hand, St. Pierre said to the Post. But she made few other changes: Obama “almost made the photograph for us.” St. Pierre admits they didn’t get permission, but “our lawyers thought it was adulterated enough to comply with the fair use laws.”

But is it “adulterated enough to comply with the fair use laws?” The standard, a copyright lawyer tells us, is whether there was a “transformative use.” And that doesn’t necessarily mean the image has to be transformed — an image can remain exactly the same and satisfy fair use if the picture is framed in a way that sends a message. In other words, its “use” is transformed. “For example, a Nancy Reagan picture on the poster would send a parodic message,” he says. “This one is a closer call.”

California NORML Release - Dec 21, 2008 News: (1) California NORML agenda for 2009 targets changing federal law: http://www.canorml.org

California NORML Release - Dec 21, 2008 News: (1) California NORML agenda for 2009 targets changing federal law: http://www.canorml.org

California NORML Release - Dec 21, 2008

News:
(1) California NORML agenda for 2009 targets changing federal law:
http://www.canorml.org/news/2009agenda.html
(2) California Police Chiefs Association called on the DEA to raid
medical marijuana facilities and undermine state law, according to a
letter submitted to the House Juciciary Committee.
http://www.canorml.org/news/CPCAtoDEA.html
(3) Warning: Marinol patients being tested for marijuana!
Cal NORML has recently heard increasing reports that Marinol
patients are being drug tested and denied employment for use of
marijuana.  In particular, we have heard from legal Prop. 215
patients who were denied jobs despite presenting Marinol
prescriptions after being re-tested specifically for marijuana.
 Until recently, Marinol and marijuana were indistinguishable on
the standard drug tests, so that patients with a Marinol prescription
had a valid medical excuse under federal law for testing positive for
marijuana.   However,  special testing techniques have been developed
that make it possible to distinguish the two by testing for
non-standard cannabinoids that appear in marijuana but not Marinol.
Until recently, these tests were expensive and rarely used except in
high-profile criminal cases.   However, it appears that they are now
being routinely used by certain laboratories in cases where Marinol
use is claimed.   In particular, we have heard reports of such
testing being used to disqualify Marinol-using Prop 215 patients by
the transportation industry and by Walmart.
    Cal NORML has accordingly altered its drug testing advice to
warn against relying on Marinol RXs as a screen for marijuana use.
http://www.canorml.org/healthfacts/testing.tips.html
    There is of course no valid scientific or health justification
for allowing patients to use Marinol but not marijuana.  The only
purpose is to enforce compliance with the law.  It is  a tribute to
the power and influence of the drug testing industry that they have
prevailed  in foisting the costs of this unnecessary and obnoxious
procedure on employers.