There was an interesting decision in the US recently about the
intellectual property (IP) implications of posting a photo on
Twitter. The facts were that a professional
photographer by the name of Daniel Morel – a man who has
apparently spent over 25 years in Haiti – posted dramatic
photos of the earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 shortly
after the event. Morel posted his photos on Twitter's Twitpic
service, saying that he had 'exclusive earthquake
photos'. Although no copyright notice appeared on the
photos, the name Morel did appear on the Twitpic page.
Because the earthquake was major news, a number of media
companies contacted Morel and asked him for permission to use the
pictures. Agence France-Presse (AFP) - a news agency that
offers an international photo service - however simply downloaded
13 of Morel's photos on to its 'Image
Forum', and then transmitted them to the company Getty
Images, which in turn licensed them to various
newspapers
