ASSOCIATED PRESS: The Associated Press and the artist who created the Barack Obama “HOPE” image announced Wednesday they have agreed to settle their copyright infringement claims against each other and will work together again in projects that use the news agency’s pictures. Both sides disclosed the agreement in a joint release, ending a fight that began after Shepard Fairey’s art based on a 2006 AP photograph became an iconic image in Obama’s presidential campaign. The red, cream and light-blue image shows a determined-looking Obama gazing upward, with the caption “HOPE.” Fairey sued the AP in 2009, seeking a court declaration that he did not violate AP’s copyrights with the Obama image. The AP countersued, saying he did through his uncredited, uncompensated use of its picture. Fairey agreed to not use another AP photograph in his work without obtaining a license from the news cooperative, and the two sides agreed to share the profits of posters and merchandise bearing the “HOPE” image. The two sides also reached a financial settlement; terms weren’t disclosed. Neither side surrenders its view of the legal issues surrounding the dispute, the release said. MORE