Who Owns Your Twitpics?

4 hours ago by Jolie O'Dell 5

Share on Tumblr

email

share

Share on Tumblr

email

share

Twitpic has just updated its terms of service and issued a statement clarifying some copyright and intellectual property issues for its users.

Specifically, the company addresses the matter of ownership: Who owns a user’s Twitpics? The user? Twitpic? The Internet at large? Anyone who chooses to download the images?

In a brief post, Twitpic founder Noah Everett reassured his users that each person actually does own and hold rights to all images he or she posts to Twitpic. This is the same policy Facebook and most other mainstream social media applications have with regard to ownership of online content.

“Our goal with Twitpic from the beginning has been to create the best way to share your photos and videos on Twitter and to always keep our user’s best interests at the forefront,” Everett writes. “You, the user, retain all copyrights to your photos [and] videos.”

He also explains that as the service and Twitter itself have grown, many mainstream media organizations have turned to these real-time social venues as sources of content around breaking news. Often, Twitter updates, Twitpic media content or mobile-uploaded YouTube clips are some of the first pieces of information reporters have about important international events.

Still, Everett states that Twitpic users don’t have to let any website or media company use their images or videos without permission.

---

Should Twitpic Consider Creative Commons?

---

Another option Twitpic hasn’t yet made available is Creative Commons licensing.

For contrast, popular image-hosting and sharing app Flickr allows users to choose from a robust set of ownership options, such as licenses that allow the images to be freely shared with attribution or shared among noncommercial entities, among others.

And on Flickr, media organizations looking for the next big scoop can search specifically for content that is licensed with them in mind. In this scenario, reporters win because they get the news they need, and amateur photojournalists win because they get links back and more exposure.

Do you think Twitpic should explore Creative Commons for Twitpic’s often news-breaking images? Let us know your opinion on the matter — and whether or how you might want your own Twitpics shared around the web.

image courtesy of iStockphoto user arosoft

Sphere: Related Content