Posts tagged Photography

Well as you can probably tell from the image on the right, this is all to do with a matter of copyright. As a photographer copyright is very important to me, it’s how I make money from photographs and it’s what ensures thatI get credit for my work which brings in more work. It also ensures that I have control over the final look of an image, if it is to be associated with my name, so that I can protect my name or brand.

I saw a retweet of an update frorm @iA this afternoon which pointed me towards the terms of service of Twitpic stating that as of 4th of May they were claiming copyright license on all images uploaded to their service.  Understandably annoyed at this, I followed the link and had a read, to find the following paragraph (emphasis mine):

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 transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content in connection with the Service and Twitpic’s (and its successors’ and affiliates’) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Service (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels. You also hereby grant each user of the Service a non-exclusive license to access your Content through the Service, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform such Content as permitted through the functionality of the Service and under these Terms of Service. The above licenses granted by you in media Content you submit to the Service terminate within a commercially reasonable time after you remove or delete your media from the Service provided that any sub-license by Twitpic to use, reproduce or distribute the Content prior to such termination may be perpetual and irrevocable.

What this means

That first bold bit there essentially says they can do whatever they like with the image, at no cost, including selling it or transferring their license to any and all third parties which they chose, including the ability to make derivatives works (which would cover removing any watermark you may happen to have placed on the image).

The second bold bit basically covers them for anyone they like to be able to use their images, you have no say in who can use or license the image.

The third emphasis says that even if you delete the image, if they already have a sublicense in place then there is nothing you can do about it, and that license will still stand.

Imagine these scenarios:

• You happen to be there when something major happens, they can sell your images to the news services.
• You upload images of a friend, they sell those images and they are used without yours or your friends permission to advertise something unsavoury or adult.
• Your image / likeness is used to promote a product or service you feel strongly against (a pregnant mother in anti-abortion ads, when she is pro-choice)
• Those “Meet singles in your area” adverts you see on the right of Facebook, how would your husband feel to see you in one of those?
• A photo you took of a product is used, and the trademark owner decides to sue for that use, you as copyright owner could potentially be dragged in to it.
• An image of yours is used in a negative way, and the stigma of that is associated with you name which could affect business if you are a photographer.

Those are just the uses I can think of off the top of my head, there are bound to be plenty more.

Reaction

I immediately deleted all of the images I had on Twitpic, thankfully none of which had been uploaded since the change of terms on the 4th, and removed Twitpic’s right to access my twitter account. I uploaded one final picture which simply said in huge letters “Bye Twitpic You Bunch Of Thieving Bastards” which I can categorically say I have no qualms about if they wish to sublicense or allow the use of by anyone, anywhere.

One of the main reasons I used Twitpic was because of it’s ubiquitous support in Twitter clients, and the fact I had been using it for so long (813 days according to the oldest picture I deleted), and that it is the only choice for picture service native within the Android version of Tweetdeck which I use.

What to use instead

Thankfully the wonderful @alittlebit recommend Posterous, which I have now signed up for and will be using in the future to post pictures on Twitter, probably as well as a few short video clips and suchlike.

Like Twitpic it automatically sends out the tweet for me (as well as also being able to automatically post to a myriad of other services), and there is a handy app for my Android phone which will upload them for me, so in usability terms I lose nothing, but gain the ability to also upload pics via email and to add extra content or information to the post / pic before it is published and obviously retain the copyright, as it should be.

And just in case you’re wondering what Posterous terms of service have to say on the same matter;

You shall retain all of your ownership rights in your submissions; however, by submitting material to Posterous you grant Posterous fully transferable rights to use, reproduce, distribute, modify, transmit, prepare derivative works of, display and produce the material in connection with Posterous and Posterous’s business, but solely in accordance with these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

The key difference there is that you are granting license only in so far as may be deemed appropriate for the promotion and advertising of the Posterous service (which is likely to cover them for screenshots in news magazines etc), and not that they can sub license the images for any other use.

Final thoughts

You think that Twitpic would have learned from the mistake that Facebook made when they attempted much the same thing last year, and then very quickly withdrew the clause from the terms of service after massive outcry from their userbase. You can bet that Twitpic have something in mind for this, you don’t add something like that to your terms of use without having a reason to do so, but I for one don’t intend to be around to find out what that is, and hopefully neither will you.

If you want to sign up with Posterous you can do so by clicking here

You can follow me on twitter by clicking here.

UPDATE: There is a follow up to this article here: http://www.shepy.co.uk/blog/2011/05/twitpic-why-i-wont-go-back-and-why-you-shouldnt-either-a-follow-up/

~Shepy