Yes, Your Images on Twitter Have Commercial Value

A NY District Court judge has found that Agence France-Presse and The Washington Post infringed on the copyrights of photographer Daniel Morel in using pictures he took in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in January 2010. Federal judge Alison Nathan found that the two news organizations improperly used images that Morel had posted to Twitter.

Not buying AFP’s argument that Twitter’s terms of service granted it the right to use Morel’s images, Judge Nathan said that while the service terms do allow the reposting and rebroadcasting of users’ images in certain circumstances, such as “retweeting” them, it does not grant a license for commercial use.

Although Morel was seeking millions in damages, seems he may have to settle for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not bad.

The case is Agence France Presse v. Morel.

Via Business Insider. The decision is available here via The Trademark Blog.