THis gets messy fast- AFP suing Photographer that they stole Haiti Pics from

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Dude uses twitter to try to get his pics and the event out to the world, he is an ex AP photographer, pics get grabbed by AFP which is a news service and redistributed through Getty, photog gets nothing since AFP says anything on twitter is free for any ones use. In the meantime WSJ and AP among others contact him and pay him to use the photos! He sends cease and desist orders to AFP and others who used his shots and now he is being sued for defamation?

PDNPulse: Insult to Injury: AFP Suing Photographer It Stole Photos From

Talking about a case that will make the copyright lawyers salivate! This should be a good fight to keep track of! I don't know if he is a US citizen or not.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

here are some of those pics
Haiti Earthquake by Daniel Morel Stock Images ? Corbis

[Tom]

Yeah, I don't know how they can claim that twitpics are public domain. They are in for a butt thrashing.

[JohnT]

It's the moronic thinking that, if it's on the web, then it's free for anyone. I have no idea where that idea came from in the first place as I've never thought that.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Found out he is a Haitian citizen so that throws in British law, since Haiti still runs under their laws pretty much and maybe some other laws too.

So let's see, Photographer, AFP, Getty, Corbis (the service that he strings for), Twitter, maybe AP and no telling who else may be involved with this.

[SaSha]

some emotionally disturbing pics regardless

[janikphoto]

The dude's a pretty good photojournalist.

[dmcantrell]

Forgive me for my naivety, but what does "AFP" stand for? I've searched in google but there are a bunch of different organizations with that acronym and the article linked here doesn't define the acronym before using it.

[bryanlindsey]

"Morel's response in court papers to that he "had no prior experience with Twitter...and did not read the Terms of Service."

Oops.

[janikphoto]

Originally Posted by dmcantrell

Forgive me for my naivety, but what does "AFP" stand for? I've searched in google but there are a bunch of different organizations with that acronym and the article linked here doesn't define the acronym before using it.

Isn't that the french AP, so to speak? It's agence france-presse
AFP.com - International News, Photos, Videos, Graphics, World

[Tom]

Originally Posted by bryanlindsey

"Morel's response in court papers to that he "had no prior experience with Twitter...and did not read the Terms of Service."

Oops.

Does twitter's TOS say that all things posted there are relinquished to public domain?

[Dobick]

I'm not sure about twitter -- but twitpic's (where he uploaded them to) TOS state

Copyright

By uploading your photos to Twitpic you give Twitpic permission to use or distribute your photos on Twitpic.com or affiliated sites

All images uploaded are copyright © their respective owners

This is going to be a nasty one for AFP I am afraid.

[Kalrog]

Originally Posted by Dobick

I'm not sure about twitter -- but twitpic's (where he uploaded them to) TOS state


This is going to be a nasty one for AFP I am afraid.

Right. Twitter's TOS don't matter. Twitter doesn't host pictures - just 140 character text updates (which can be links). The AFP is toast based on my first read.

[lscottpht]

I know Daniel from my times in Haiti. He's a brilliant photojournalist. I hope he wins. He's had enough bad happen to him in the past.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Cool that you know him Leslie, if you follow the second link to the portfolio you can join his twitter page. (looks like he set up the account that day)