Photos: Retweeting vs. Other Use

BLG's Advertising, Marketing and Sponsorship Group recently held a Continuing Legal Education session titled "Marketing Law News Flashes: Recent Updates and Reminders".  During the CLE, one of our intellectual property partners, Hafeez Rupani, mentioned the recent Agence France Presse/Daniel Morel case.   The case all began when a photojournalist took photos of the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and posted them on Twitter.  The case illustrates the distinction between retweeting a Twitter posting, which would be permissible, versus using a tweeted photo on a website when there is no licence permitting such use.  It also reinforces that just because you found something on the Internet, it doesn't mean that you can use it freely.  Hafeez noted that "unless you are the owner of copyright, you likely need authorization or a licence to use a copyright-protected work."