A fine display of hubris at its finest

tgiokdi

Ben said:

We will properly use Creative Commons search to find any and all Flickr pictures that we may use.

Meaning, they'll only use pictures from flickr given that they're available under appropriate CC licenses. On Flickr, a conscious decision must be made to make photos available under these licenses, so this does, in effect, nullify any request they would have to make assuming they follow the terms of the license.

kurmbox

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070201-8752.html

I'd also like to say that the Consumerist's disregard for copyright has bothered me for some time and I'm surprised it took this long to catch up to them.

Greg P

apollonia666

Realistically, it's not difficult to secure the rights to stock photos and to take your own pictures.

Aaron Pratt

Flickr makes this fairly easy. License information is listed right next to the photo. If only other sources were as explicit about this type of thing.

I didn't mean copyright as a principle is messed up, it is the various permutations of "copyleft" (11 valid ones apparently) which tend to trip up unwary bloggers like Ben [...] and myself [...]

Creative Commons, or "copyleft" actually makes it easier to use or re-use an image. It's also not part of the copyright system. It came up as a response to it. Without it, photos should be assumed "All Rights Reserved" and permission should be requested. "Copyleft" is less restrictive.

Bloggers need to be more wary. A lot of that stuff out there isn't yours to use, so get familiar with Fair Use and Creative Commons if you plan on using it.

brad77

And, when we made suggestions re: Creative Commons, proper credit to the photographers, etc... (basically, all the changes they're now making) we were told to sit down, shut up.

That said, I'm glad we can finally get back to talking about unscrupulous car salesmen.

Kluv

This is how copyright is supposed to work. Individuals secure the exclusive right to their work. And people who violate that right face consequences.

Fair point, I didn't mean copyright as a principle is messed up, it is the various permutations of "copyleft" (11 valid ones apparently) which tend to trip up unwary bloggers like Ben (and myself, though my personal journal doesn't have the star status of a Gawker rag to raise Flickr's ire).

That's the dumbest thing I've read all day.

shoegazer

That's the dumbest thing I've read all day. (Don't fret. The day is still young.) This is how copyright is supposed to work. Individuals secure the exclusive right to their work. And people who violate that right face consequences.

This was far from innocent infringement, and Ben was defiant (the 'fair use' comment) until the very moment Flickr users started raising hell. I can see how some people might find the apology contrived and insincere. On the other hand, I'm not sure what more he could do to make it right, even if he does truly regret what he did. All he can do is apologize, and start working on building back the good will that was lost through his poor choices.

Mike_

Basically, kudos to Ben for attempting to make amends. Kudos to the flickr users who have accepted the hand of apology (even those who requested photos be taken off).

This just highlights how messed up the copyright system has become, but is a good test example of the use of Creative Commons. I'm just sorry it had to happen to Consumerist.

shoegazer

schwnj

valel

Legally, I don't think an apology really cuts it.

Mattazuma

I think everyone can see that the people that run consumerist came to the realization that they were in the wrong, and its a good sign that they're able to 'own up to it'.

This is nothing like what most companies do. These guys admited they were wrong. Apologized. Corrected the error. Made an open invitation for public comments on their handling of the matter. And made sure that there was a system in place whereby people could send in any future complaints.

Nygdan

It's like being jerked around by a company, laughed at, and then when the whistle is finally blown publicly, the company is contrite and says they should have known better.

Well, you know what? Consumerist should have known better.

An apology is useless at this point (and boy, did you guys ever grovel). Why did you do something that you knew was wrong?

Don't give us this crap about how using the photos without permission was going to help build a better community and bring information to the masses, or whatever you were trying to say. That's the same line we get from companies who say by screwing Customers #1 to #5, they're actually helping Customers #6 to #100. That part of the apology was almost as bad as the action itself.

You guys really hurt your credibility here. Time will tell if you can repair it.

brooklynbs

People offering up CC attribution licensed works are the good people and deserve the little they ask in return.

Skeptic

Are you freaking kidding me? There are plenty of working photographers who use Flickr to highlight their work, including myself.

Please don't disrespect our work.

adropp

agdTinMan

In the future, I'd love to see something like the ID3 tag on mp3s, but for images, so you don't have to bother with the manual labor of finding the user's site, finding the post where they released the image, and then research what obscure version of any particular license they've decided that they're going to use. Tags like this are already used, but aren't fully supported, and sometimes ignored or overwritten by ignorant software.

Personally I think that the flickr people just need to get their panties unwadded, and get over themselves. These are simple pictures we're talking about here, not original copies of world renowned artwork.

tgiokdi

It's okay to screw up. Just don't be an ass when you do. Thanks for finally doing the right thing.

Yeah, I know. I'm supposed to be unsubscribed. After I left and found the thread on Flickr, I just had to check back and see what was going on.

Michael

It's cool that you've changed your ways, but it's also a shame that it took this long - and what seems to be a decent amount of arm-twisting - to make it happen.

To say nothing of why it was even allowed in the first place. :/

BillyShears

isadora

I think it has more to do with the shitstorm brewing over at Flickr. They're not happy about having their work stolen. Also, at least one Flickr staffer is watching, which means Yahoo! knows The Consumerist has been disregarding its users' posted license terms.

Glad to see a course correction on this one. I hope Flickr can forgive and forget.

Mike_

24fan24

MattyMatt

scingram

2/14/2007, Consumerist apologizes.

RandomHookup

Whatever happened to that story anyway? Did Lycos give up? Did the jackass apologize?

bluegus32

Unless, of course, you're a Lycos Customer Service Manager who's a jerk.

Will Clarke

acambras

Mark

ronaldscott

Dustbunny

phrygian

homerjay- Smiling politely

Kluv

RumorsDaily

RogueSophist

kenposan

kenposan

Come on, I know you guys are more intelligent than that...

CRSpartan01

snazz

Jesse McBesse

structuralpoke

chimmike

homerjay- Smiling politely