The artist who created the famous Obama Hope poster before he became the US president sued The Associated Press yesterday, asking a judge to find that his use of an AP photo in creating the poster did not violate copyright law.

The lawsuit filed in US District Court in Manhattan said street artist Shepard Fairey did not violate the copyright of the April 2006 photograph because he dramatically changed the nature of the Obama image.

The AP has said it is owed credit and compensation for the artist's rendition of the Obama image.