Flickr, Blogmobs, and a Seriously Fascinating Lesson on Content Licensing

One of my jacked Flickr photos, which is now licensed under Creative Commons. Share-Alike people!

This weekend, I received an interesting email from someone I had never met before regarding some photos I’d posted to my Flickr pool:

"...some slimeball was stealing pics from Flickr and representing them as his own professional work on his website (which has since been taken down)...I've got print screens of the two pictures I know he stole from your Flickr, if you want them. Just thought you would want to know."

Flickr allows users to upload their works and organize them with tags, and while it is possible to make your photos available only to certain viewers and protect them with a copyright, Flickr encourages its users to make their images freely available to everyone via one of six Creative Commons licenses, which outline various definitions of free fair use.

Licenses such as these, no matter how forward-thinking and brilliant they may be, rely on the central tenet that people will actually obey them. Until this whole saga began to unfold, I was seriously doubting that anyone anywhere would ever be able to adequately police licensed content (especially semi-small-time thefts such as these) on the Internet. In this case, my photos weren't even licensed with Creative Commons—they were filed under the traditional and uber-restrictive "all rights reserved" copyright, which allows for no usage of my photos anywhere without my specific permission. Clearly, even this did nothing to deter the plagiarist in question. So what did put the kibosh on this guy's cyber thievery? The rapid mobilization and deployment of a force I hadn’t even considered: the blogmob

It just so happens that a number of the Flickr users who were stolen from also had blogs (duh), so naturally, Googling the name of the thief soon displayed nothing but blog posts referencing his plagiarism. After the story broke on digg.com, Flickr became a veritable hive of citizen-policemen. Soon the thief's possible home address and phone number were made available (pretty scary), as well as the locations around the net of other photos published under his name. His Web site, Flickr account, and MySpace page were all either taken down or locked, all in a matter of hours. And sure enough, someone using the name of the thief eventually posted an apology.

A lot of people were riled up about this whole thing, but I couldn't help but be anything but fascinated by the immense power of a closely networked community being demonstrated before my eyes. The blogmob has spoken and I will never doubt its power again. —John Mahoney

Comments

[scared]

I remember when lynchings were a bad thing. I guess its cool if you are on the side of the rightous though, huh.

"Mobs are Just, Truth is Consensus, Conformity is Individuality" -2084

[Steve]

Lynching?! I don't recall that plagarism has ever been punishable by death. If you do something wrong by a collectively held standard, then there will be consequences.

[steward]

As long as governments only enforce copyright at the behest of the RIAA, and ignore the property rights of actual citizens, these things will occur.

"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power." - Thomas Jefferson

[Keith]

RIAA is always round the corner, just make sure you do the right thing. But I have to agree some of those things that they (RIAA) do, is truly disappointing.

[Jayel Aheram]

The idea of "intellectual property" disgusts me. This incident does not inspire me, motivate me, or in any way leave me with anything but a sour taste in my mouth. The people, the many mouth frothing defenders of the morally indefensible, are nothing more than pawns of the movement that seeks to contain, package, and sell ideas.

On the other hand, I do dislike liars. So I am undecided.

[nate]

I make a living with my art, so I'm a big fan of the concept of intellectual property. It's cute that some folks like the theif in question and Jayel are opposed to it, but what they're really doing is supporting the reasoning for intellectual property - illuminating the greed of human nature, the want to consume for free. Unless you're a practicing primativist, you've co-opted in the selling of ideas somewhere. It's part of the foundation of modern economics.

[puh-lease]

of course, WHO WOULD EVER THINK THAT PICTURES THAT ARE POSTED TO THE WORLD WIDE WEB WOULD EVER BE DOWNLOADED AND USED BY OTHER PEOPLE. OMGWTFBBQTHERESASHARKINTHEWATER

[in support]

To use something posted on the web for your private use is one thing... passing it off as your own creation is entirely another.

I applaud the collective might of those engaged tracking down the counterfeiter. Without their help, the thief would have kept of thieving.

[Han]

It never ceases to amaze me how people will band together in someones time of need, evidence or not!
There are some stealers who just wont stop stealing, I know of one nicknamed 'krystole' who had stolen countless works, she even has a hatesite, which really takes it too far!

[John]

Mob justice makes me uncomfortable for some reason, although using photos without permission is not good either.

I'm sure I could set up a website using stolen material that would "inadvertently" lead back to someone else. The mob would never know it was done deliberately to discredit one of my business competitors. Whois is only as accurate as what you make it, and there are ways to buy domains without using your real name.

While I wouldn't do this, I'm sure others would, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who knows how to do this. Mob rule is not the way to handle something like plagiarism, I'm afraid.

Another point: why get so upset over this, and then turn around and say it's ok to download music without paying for it? Depriving someone of money -theft- is worse than plagiarsism, but it's fine as long as you do it.

Hypocrites.

[John]

Btw, is your copy of Photoshop legal?

If you are in possession of anything which you did not pay for, you are in no position to get all self-rightous over someone eles's plagiarism.

HYPOCRITES!!!!

[John]

So, I'm trying to understand the mob mentality. It's ok for me to download music, movies, and software without paying for it, just as long as I don't claim authorship?

I just want to be perfectly consistent with mob rule here, that's all.

According to the "logic" of mob rule, anyone is entitled to use flicker photos on their own website or in advertising, as long as they don't claim authorship of said photos.

Inconsistency = hypocracy.

[Jayel Aheram]

What you call "intellectual property" I call "stifling innovation."

[Aubrey Scoooott]

oh wow. my cousin does something like that... he has a community of like, 3000 people (probably more) but they go around crashing websites and so on.

[sal]

I thought this was odd

"Soon the thief's possible home address and phone number were made available"

The POSSIBLE address and phone number, a mob of people attacking maybe the wrong person. Exactly what happens when mobs form.

[John]

One of the common justifications for illegally downloading software goes something like this: "I want to check it out before I buy. It's probably not worth paying for, I probably won't use it all that much. I will expose my friends to any shiny software that's any good, and they will buy the shiny software, so it's all profit for the author, and they should thank me for increased sales."

Try that justification on any item you would buy from a store, and you'd get arrested. The store doesn't care if you like the item a little bit or a lot, you still have to pay for it. The store doesn't care if you will use the item a little bit or a lot, you still have to pay for it. The store doesn't care if you changed your mind regarding the item's usefulness after using it for a while, you still have to pay for it.

While the store does hope that your friends like it too, and that they buy more of it, the fact that you walked out of the store without paying for it is still STEALING.

Flickr photographers want everyone in the free world to respect their own "common license" regarding something which they have made, yet will not reciprocate by uniting with the recording artists, software engineers, and movie producers in speaking out against illegal downloading.

YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.

Either everything is fair game, or it's all off limits.

YOUR CHOICE.

[John]

http://foolier-than-thou.blogspot.com/

I promise to steal every photo I use on my blog from flickr. Hope that's ok. :)

[Robert Sanzalone]

I also saw this forming before my eyes. It was sickening. I totally understood the "policing" action but it went much farther to a "let's teach him a lesson" which went way beyond what it should have.

I'm glad you've coined the term "blogmob". Speaking to the original photographer who this happened to, I put no blame on. It was the reaction to the whole thing which really is a shame on many bloggers.

[Greg]

I'm sure the thief is not really sorry, just sorry he got caught. But what he really has lost is his reputation within the community, a loss in self value he may yet be sorry for in the future.

As for mob actions I feel that we should always step back and think before we react -- the reasons we founded law in the first place ...lest we fall back to a feudal society where warlords and gangs ruled. Does everyone get their day in court or do we rush to judgment and jail the innocent some day(here's to hoping it's never YOU).

Enlightened and Enlightening

[Onufry]

Thanks for your project. I like this site. KEEP IT UP...
;)

[Bill]

This is a cool site! Thanks and wish you better luck! Brilliant but simple idea.
;)

[Peter]

Well well well... Not bad, not bad... Can better? ;)
;)

[Methodius]

Wery well!
;)

[Henry]

Very good web site, great work and thank you for your service.
;)

[Alexandra]

So, what do you think about last comments ?
;)