Photographers and the Content War: Agence France Press v. Daniel Morel
Recent technological changes in photojournalism have given us the ability to see and show photos of events as they unfold, instead of waiting for them after the fact and while this seems like a better way for photojournalists to distribute their work in a timely manner and build up revenue, this advancement has also put us and our work in greater risk.
Twitter and Twitpic are great tools for all journalists, however, it is evermore important for photojournalists working around the world to bring their images to the public. There are many benefits of posting your images in your Twitterfeed via Twitpic (or any other twitter image host), however, as I learned from an article I found on NPAC (News Photographers Association of Canada) Forums written in the The Blog of the British Journal of Photography, I realized how susceptible photographers are to copyrighted violations, and how that trend is on a continual rise within our industry. Vigilence by photographers and photojournalists is absolutely necessary on this issue, it affects all of us not just Mr. Morel.
Here is a summary of the issue by the British Journal of Photography
Agence France Presse filing a complaint against Haiti-based photographer Daniel Morel:
On Monday, Agence France Presse filed a complaint in the United States District Court Southern District of New York against Haiti-based photographer Daniel Morel. Agence France Presse claims Morel engaged in an “antagonistic assertion of rights” after the photographer objected to the use by AFP of images he posted online of the Haitian earthquake of 12 January.
At the heart of this case, which has prompted Morel to file a 66-page brief and 10 counterclaims, is the use, by news agencies, of social networking websites such as Twitter. However, in my opinion, this case highlights one major problem affecting the journalism world in particular: a blatant lack of respect for a photographer’s work and copyright.
Passage from the following article: http://www.1854.eu/
AFP used Morel’s work before receiving authorization to do so. AFP didn’t authenticate or verify the photographers identity, which is or at least definitely should be the industry standard, before using the images and distributing them to its affiliated papers. After using Mr. Morel images without his permission AFP reasoned that Morel was okay with distributing his images because, “Morel granted any third-party a non-exclusive license to use the images by posting them on Twitter.”
This concept should be outrageous to any artist. The idea that if we upload our images to any social media website, that we are losing any limited copyright we had on our work, is a very scary thought. If this is what the AFP and it’s Photo Editors think is right, then we have a serious issue within our industry. I hope AFP does the right thing but I have a feeling their loyalty is only to their bottom line.
Photographers and photojournalists have to be active and involved in the changes new media is facing. If we sit back and accept these breaches to our copyrights and disregard for our work, then we are just complacent in taking a backseat in the future of journalism and thus making our profession and work insignificant.
I highly suggest you read the British Journal of Photography article and see for yourself what happen in this case because I just barely touched on the issue.
Thanks and I hope we can overcome this pivotal issue.
