A U.S. District Court ruled on Monday that news outlets infringed on a photographer’s copyrights after publishing photos he took in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Agence France Presse (AFP)/Getty Images and the Washington Post were found liable for copyright infringement after publishing photographs posted on Twitter by photographer Daniel Morel.
U.S. District Court Judge Alison J. Nathan ruled on Monday that photographs taken by Morel in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and summarily distributed by AFP/Getty and the Post were Morel’s property and they are liable for using them.
The 58-page ruling of the case details a series of blunders made by the news agencies in regards to the photos, and says that AFP/Getty and the post are liable for copyright infringement. The court ruled against Morel, however, in the scope of his claims of statutory damages.
A detailed timeline of the background about what Morel and the news agencies claim ensued is online at the British Journal of Photography.
