In what the Wall
Street Journal Law Blog is calling “the best fair use controversy ever,” the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has “tweaked” an old photo of then college freshman Barack Obama puffing a cigarette
for their annual conference poster with the message: "Yes We
Cannabis." The original photos are here, at Time magazine.
According to the Washington
Post, the original photographer, Lisa Jack, a psychology professor at
Minnesota is not happy: "They do not have my permission." 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. If I'd wanted these
to be used for political purposes, I'd have sold them to Hillary years
ago." Says
an unrepentant NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, “our lawyers thought
it was adulterated enough to comply with the fair use laws.”
The President, who opposes
marijuana legalization, is an unlikely NORML spokesperson. Perhaps he’ll reconsider his prior
position that legalizing and taxing the marijuana trade is not a good strategy
for economic growth (see CBS News video below)?
If so, the Lounge already has a slogan for him: “See
Me, Feel Me, Touch Me, Tax Me.”