Unicorn

Fascinating, a magnificent ambit claim by the owners of Airliners.net on the IP of the photographers who helped make the site the success it is today.

Basically taking the photographers hard work, claiming ownership of it and then selling it to third parties for commercial use in the face of the desires of the IP holder, and with no recompense to the photographer.

I have some questions regarding the legal ramifications of this claim, particularly how it relates to the legal standing of copywrite in the EU (where I believe the servers are still hosted), Sweden (as that was the jusrisdiction where the original terms of agreement that posters agreed to were promulgated), and a number of international copywrite agreements.

If the new owners are located in the US (which I think they are) then they will run up against a number of copywrite issues there as well.

Then there are the copywrite laws pertaining to the IP of photographers in different legal jurisdictions, for example Australia, Japan or the UK, which tend to fall on the side of the IP holder.

A real issue is that A.net holds a large number of images from the work of deceased photographers, who naturally are in no position to 'opt out' of the new terms of use, thus in effect their IP now resides with the owners of A.net, unless their estates are notified about the changes.

I have to say, it would be hard for anyone to invent a quicker way of destroying a site like A.net than this piece of considered stupidity.

Apparently A.net have said they are reviewing it and it may not apply to EXISTING photographs, but by inference all new images / photographers will be bound by the terms of agreement.

A very unsavoury situation.

Unicorn

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the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning.
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

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