Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Flickr Censors A Photographer's Plea

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the who-owns-what dept.

Bananatree3 writes "Popular Icelandic photographer and art-student Rebekka Guoleifsdottir has been targeted by Flickr for posting a plea for help in a theft case involving an online retailer selling copycat art. She requested that people send the retailer letters concerning the issue, and in response her original post was promptly deleted. It is still ironically available on Yahoo cache. In the end it appears that the retailer had been duped by a rogue art dealer under the title "Wild Aspects and Panoramics LTD". However, Flickr seems to have overstepped its bounds in deleting this post." This whole case brings back up the messy issues surrounding content ownership in this strange new world of a services based internet.

5 of 178 comments (clear)

  1. Overstepped??!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    However, Flickr seems to have overstepped its bounds in deleting this post."

    Isn't it Flickr's site? They can do whatever they want. This isn't involving your rights online or anybody else's "right".

    1. Re:Overstepped??!! by Bananatree3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, it is their site, and they can censor as they wish. They could impose draconian laws if they wanted. However, that is unlikely as it would drive away people from their site. The kind of censorship of the kind described by this photographer is stepping outside of a rational bounds, not necessarily a legal one.

    2. Re:Overstepped??!! by gunnk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So you wouldn't feel wronged if Slashdot deleted your comment, right?

      Is it in there power to do so? Sure. Would that make it right? No. Her posting on Flickr wasn't inappropriate -- in fact, it should be important to Flickr. She's one of the most popular photographer's Flickr has. I fell in love with her work back with this one:

      http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebba/47807949/in/set -72057594112345061/

      More importantly, this very popular photographer is having her work RIPPED OFF by some print shop in England. It's in Flickr's best interest for her to get the word out since this kind of criminal behavior scares people away from posting good stuff on Flickr.

      The deletion was just plain stupid.

      --
      Life is short: void the warranty.
    3. Re:Overstepped??!! by the_womble · · Score: 4, Insightful

      As part of the "anti-copyright" crowd, we do not support giving creator no right at all, simply reasonable rights.

      Pretty much everyone supports her right to be identified as the creator of the photograph. Was that done in this case? Obviously not.

      Most of us would support a reasonable copyright law, for example, with exceptions for non-commercial or private use, lasting for a reasonable time etc. In this case it was public commercial use, so she should be paid.

      Another subtlety that you miss is that the issues around copyright of software (obviously a major concern on /.), are very different from those around photography so we may take different view on the two.

  2. The Conflict by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From Flickr's Terms of Use, there are several reasons why this post was taken down. The ToS states:

    Flickr is intended for personal use and is not a generic image hosting service. Professional or corporate uses of Flickr are prohibited.
    How did they know that this isn't a PR stunt? Set up a facade company, sell your work through it with no traces back to you then post on Flickr about the problem. Bam! Instant exposure to thousands of people.

    We may, but have no obligation to, remove Content and accounts containing Content that we determine in our sole discretion are unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party's intellectual property or these Terms of Use.
    And, as a result of Rebekka's plea for people to send letters to OnlyDreemin, the blog entitled "Jumping to conclusions" states:

    Today I have been in contact with OnlyDreemin and asked for clarification on this issue. I was saddened to learn they have received death threats over this matter, proving once again just how passionate people are, no matter how misguided, when it comes to this type of theft.
    So while Rebekka's post wasn't necessarily threatening, it sure resulted in threatening actions which, if I'm not mistaken, death threats are illegal in the United States and most likely in Iceland as well. If you read the rest of Flickr's ToS, they are very stringent about targeting other Flickr users with any kind of content/e-mail/threats whatsoever.

    Why doesn't Rebekka just sue OnlyDreemin? They are legally liable for what they sell. If they can't produce the people who sold them the prints, that's their fault for doing business with shady people. Did they bother to ask the people for licensing information? I find it hard to believe that the art world doesn't have a way to catalog and look up sellers of art with licenses or anything like that. You don't just transfer (£3000.00) in cash or to an anonymous Paypal account. Come on, hold someone responsible, don't get on Flickr and start a smear campaign toward them!

    I honestly think Flickr did the right thing. They shouldn't be involved in this, they aren't a legal site or a petition site or anything like that at all. They are a general photo content site. Don't run your business from it, don't use it for your political or legal battles. That's it, plain and simple.

    There is a better place for this conflict, in the courts not on Flickr.
    --
    My work here is dung.