TWITTER PHOTOGRAPHY RIGHTS ROW SURFACES
Fears have escalated that photos posted on Twitter will be sold to third parties without the photographer's consent - a danger exposed by Amateur Photographer five months ago. Twitpic - a firm that enables Twitter users to upload their photos - has been forced to issue a statement after controversially amending its terms of use.
Its revised terms state that Twitpic can 'distribute that content on twitpic.com and to our affiliated partners.' Although Twitpic has since made clear that users 'retain all copyrights' to their photos and videos, a spokesman for the intellectual Property Office told AP that, by agreeing to these terms and conditions, the photographer automatically grants Twitpic the right to distribute their images.
This means that, in practical terms, Twitpic users lose control of their photos. Concern intensified when it was announced that Twitpic had struck a deal with entertainment picture agency WENN, allowing it to sell on Twitter images. WENN's chief executive Lloyd Beiny stressed that the agreement with Twitpic only applies to pictures 'taken by' celebrities, and not images uploaded by the general public.
However WENN already has a similar agreement with Pixi - another firm enabling Twitter users to share their images. Speaking to AP in January, Beiny did not rule out selling on other types of Twitter images to wider media, such as pictures of breaking news story - whether taken by a celebrity or not.
Commenting on the Twitpic deal, he insisted 'We are not after
99.9% of pictures.'Referring to a report in the Metro newspaper, which claimed that Twitpic users lose their photographic rights, he told us: 'A lot of fuss is being made about nothing... they (Twitpic users) don't lose their rights, they own the copyright.'
Beiny declined to comment on WENN's current agreement with Pixi (since renamed Lockerz), which - as we revealed earlier this year - appears to give WENN the right to choose whether to use photos uploaded by members of the public, not just celebrities. In January, he told us: 'It (the agreement with Pixi) applies to all pictures, but unless it is something really exceptional it is unlikely we would be interested in anything other than a celebrity.'
Twitpic's revised terms state: 'You retain all ownership rights to Content uploaded to Twitpic. 'However, by submitting Content to Twitpic, you hereby grant Twitpic a worldwide non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transfereable license to use, reproduce...'
From an article in the News section of Amateur Photographer magazine 11 June 2001 issue.
The full unedited version appears here.
Fears have escalated that photos posted on Twitter will be sold to third parties without the photographer's consent - a danger exposed by Amateur Photographer five months ago. Twitpic - a firm that enables Twitter users to upload their photos - has been forced to issue a statement after controversially amending its terms of use.
Its revised terms state that Twitpic can 'distribute that content on twitpic.com and to our affiliated partners.' Although Twitpic has since made clear that users 'retain all copyrights' to their photos and videos, a spokesman for the intellectual Property Office told AP that, by agreeing to these terms and conditions, the photographer automatically grants Twitpic the right to distribute their images.
This means that, in practical terms, Twitpic users lose control of their photos. Concern intensified when it was announced that Twitpic had struck a deal with entertainment picture agency WENN, allowing it to sell on Twitter images. WENN's chief executive Lloyd Beiny stressed that the agreement with Twitpic only applies to pictures 'taken by' celebrities, and not images uploaded by the general public.
However WENN already has a similar agreement with Pixi - another firm enabling Twitter users to share their images. Speaking to AP in January, Beiny did not rule out selling on other types of Twitter images to wider media, such as pictures of breaking news story - whether taken by a celebrity or not.
Commenting on the Twitpic deal, he insisted 'We are not after
99.9% of pictures.'Referring to a report in the Metro newspaper, which claimed that Twitpic users lose their photographic rights, he told us: 'A lot of fuss is being made about nothing... they (Twitpic users) don't lose their rights, they own the copyright.'
Beiny declined to comment on WENN's current agreement with Pixi (since renamed Lockerz), which - as we revealed earlier this year - appears to give WENN the right to choose whether to use photos uploaded by members of the public, not just celebrities. In January, he told us: 'It (the agreement with Pixi) applies to all pictures, but unless it is something really exceptional it is unlikely we would be interested in anything other than a celebrity.'
Twitpic's revised terms state: 'You retain all ownership rights to Content uploaded to Twitpic. 'However, by submitting Content to Twitpic, you hereby grant Twitpic a worldwide non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transfereable license to use, reproduce...'
From an article in the News section of Amateur Photographer magazine 11 June 2001 issue.
The full unedited version appears here.
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