Yahoo stops selling prints of Creative Commons images

Steven Loeb · December 19, 2014 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/3afd

The company apologizes after angering artists over selling images that were meant to be free

Sometimes it really does pay to make your feelings known: after suffering a lot of backlash from artists, Yahoo has apologized and announced that is backing off a controversial decision to sell canvas prints of licensed photos uploaded to Flickr.

"We’re sorry we let some of you down," Matthew Roth, a Community Manager for Flickr wrote in a blog post on Thursday. "Over the past few weeks, we’ve received a lot of feedback from the community and beyond — while some expressed their excitement about the new photography marketplace and the value it would bring, many felt that including Creative Commons-licensed work in this service wasn’t within the spirit of the Commons and our sharing community."

Here's what this happened: the company caused quite a stir last month when it expanded its Wall Art service, which allows users to order prints of photos uploaded to the site, to include those under filed Creative Commons. Creative Commons photos are a collection that the creators have typically made free to use.

The problem with what Yahoo did was twofold. These were licensed images and Yahoo, who would be selling the prints for up to $49 apiece, would be keeping all the profits. So not only were they supposed to be free in the first place, but Yahoo wouldn't even be sharing those profits.

“It ticked me off that somebody else is selling them when I was giving them away,” one artist told the Wall Street Journal in November. 

“When I accepted the Creative Commons license, I understood that my images could be used for things like showing up in articles or other works where they could be showed to public,” said another. Yahoo “selling my work and getting the full money out of it came as a surprise."

So Yahoo is going to be removing the Creative Commons licensed images "effective immediately." That means that 50 million Creative Commons-licensed images will now be taken down. The company will also be issuing refunds to those who bought the prints since it started selling them.

"We hear and understand your concerns, and we always want to ensure that we’re acting within the spirit with which the community has contributed," Yahoo said. 

This does not mean that Wall Art, which debuted in October of this year, is going away. People can still order prints of their own images, as well as those who are Flickr’s licensed artists, and who are part of the Flickr Marketplace. The company also said that it will be continuing to "work closely with Creative Commons to come back with programs that align better with our community values."

(Image source: flickr.com)

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