Haitian snapper humbles photo giants AFP and Getty Images in $1.2m copyright victory

Photographers have won a landmark victory after a federal jury awarded $1.2m to freelance photojournalist Daniel Morel. The US case is the first to define who owns photographs posted on Twitter.

A New York jury decisively backed a Haitian photojournalist Morel in a copyright case against photo agency Getty and news agency AFP, after the latter claimed a right to use Morel's photographs of the 2010 Haiti disaster.

The jury, unimpressed by the behaviour of Getty and AFP, awarded $1.2m against the two giants - far more than they needed to for wilful infringement, and the maximum they could award under US law.

From The Register