"From what I hear, he and his campaign went out and bought the cover shoot. Melania did a cover story for 'GQ,' a very strong modeling picture. No big deal," Trump said on ABC's "This Week."
So Trump is repeating a debunked blog suggestion that even big pro-Trump Gateway Pundit said seemed bogus.
Here is my boilerplate response to this:
First of all, the reports Roe purchased it have been dismissed. It was claimed by a blog with no evidence. Even the Trump supporting Gateway Pundit website said that report looks bogus. No legitimate source is claiming that, and even biased sources for Trump say it isn't true.
Second, if a campaign of any sort paid for usage rights of an image, they wouldn't be using a low resolution magazine scan that is all over Google. This looks like an image some kid scanned off his home computer, not a high quality image a magazine would supply if rights-use was purchased.
Third, in the nature of politics, a campaign or PAC can claim fair use on an image that is in the public discourse. This image is all over Google and just like the media reporting using the image, a campaign can also claim it is germane to public discourse and protected under fair use guidelines. (in the same way Trump used an image of Heidi Cruz from a Reuters snapshot that I'm sure he didn't get permission for).
Fourth, don't assume Liz Mair (who admitted she was behind it) even thought of copyright issues. Images like this are used constantly in memes and I doubt anyone even thinks of purchasing image rights.
