NEW YORK (AP).- A photographer who took a picture that the Barack Obama “HOPE” image was based on dropped his claim Friday that he owns the copyright to the photograph, instead of The Associated Press. The AP also dropped its claim against him. The stipulation between the AP, photographer Mannie Garcia, and artist Shepard Fairey and his related companies was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where a judge is presiding over a legal fight to decide whether Fairey infringed AP copyrights when he based his artwork on the AP’s photograph during Obama’s 2008 run for the presidency. Garcia, 56, of Kensington, Md., said he owned the copyright to the picture after Fairey sued the news cooperative last year, saying his creations did not infringe AP copyrights. In a countersuit, the AP said the uncredited, uncompensated use of its picture violated copyright laws and threatened journalism. Garcia’s attorney, Warren Zinn, said his client was relieved to drop the lawsuit, which resul