White House Claims Copyright On Flickr Photos

Hugh Pickens writes "US government policy is that photos produced by federal employees as part of their job responsibilities are not subject to copyright in the US. But Kathy Gill writes that after originally putting official White House photos in the public domain, since January the Obama White House has been asserting that no one but 'news organizations' can use its Flickr photos taken by the official White House photographer, who is a US government employee. This change appears to be a heavy-handed response to last month's controversy resulting from a billboard that implied the President endorsed The Weatherproof Garment Co. after the company used an AP photo of the president for a Times Square billboard. However a New York law already protects individuals from unauthorized use of their image for advertising, and the billboard was quickly taken down. Gill writes, 'Whatever the reason, the assertion of these "rights" seems to be in direct contrast to official government policy and is certainly in direct contrast to reasonable expectations by the public, given that the photos are being produced with taxpayer (i.e., public) money. Ironically, the same Flickr page that claims (almost exclusive) copyright also links to the US copyright policy statement.'"

Comments

What!?

[Anonymous Coward]

Those commie bast...oh, wait, nevermind.

anything that is part of news corp

[Joe The Dragon]

anything that is part of news corp

Oh, my Government owns it? No Problem Then!

[dmomo]

Hi. I (a US Citizen) am the owner of these copyrights. As being a such, I hereby grant permission for anyone to use this material freely.

Snark Snark.

Re:Oh, my Government owns it? No Problem Then!

[maxume]

You never did get me that tank, so I'm not sure I believe you this time.

Re:Hah.

[headkase]

See, moderation is about control too ;) =D

Re:I'd like to claim copyright on some images

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll take all the porn.

Re:It would seem...

[Anonymous Coward]

I like Obama and I voted for him, but every single time I turn around, it looks like his administration is still trying to pound in nails in with a screwdriver.

I don't understand this analogy. I use screwdrivers with sturdy handles to tap in small nails all the time, or to get larger ones started.

Okay, how about this one: Every single time I turn around, it looks like his administration is still trying to screw you with a hammer.

Re:Work for hire

[TheTurtlesMoves]

But how can his/her children inherent the photographers legacy! Are you trying to tell me that long term copyrights doesn't look after the artist to the fifth generation. Lies is must be lies I tell you.