Problems with flickr API
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
Jim M. Goldstein has documented some serious holes in the flickr API that have allowed third parties to make almost all of flickr’s content available for download regardless of copyright restrictions. This is a must read: How Every Flickr Photo Ended Up on Sale This Weekend.
Here’s some more discussion up on flickr: Myxer Using Copyrighted Images Without Permission.
Oh boy, I know a few people who, when they read this, will be deleting their flickr accounts for good. And, with the current management chaos at Yahoo and the flickr founders leaving this does not spell good news for what has arguably been the best photo sharing community in the world. All good things end I guess.
Gah, let’s hope Flickr doesn’t come to an end. While the photo sharing part isn’t perfect, the communities are great.
Jason: Absolutely, I’m in total agreement. I don’t think many understand just how big a lever flickr is on sharing their work with a lot of other people. If it were gone there would be a serious hole in the photo sharing universe.
I (and no doubt many others) have long suspected that lots of photos are being taken from flickr account, without regard for copyright restrictions. Now to think more about this, re-read Goldstein’s article when I have time this evening, and to decide whether to keep my Flickr account.
Gary: Just out of curiosity, if you decide to get rid of your flickr account, what will you do to share your images online?
Richard,
I’ll post them primarily to my blog initially, and will explore the options for beginning a new site primarily for display of my photography.
Hmmm… never knew about this, so thanks for the heads up Richard.
Any photos that I think could be used commercially, I am starting to watermark before uploading to flickr - for example the motor racing events I am shooting this year. Yes, I shouldn’t need to, but I do. Also, I don’t upload high res images. Problem solved. Again, I should be able to, but I do this down to time and also protecting my work.
I SO hope that flickr sorts this out. It is not a critical thing for me personally for the reasons above but it is critical for anyone who does post high res, un-watermarked images.
Not to beat you both over the head with my point but you should not forget that the traffic your images get on flickr is much more than they get on your blogs. This may not be true in every case when folks have established photo blogs but in your case it is I’m pretty sure.
What’s great about flickr is that it’s a self-contained internet with tools to make it easier for a lot of people to find your images and look at them.
I think many people who are quick to dump flickr don’t quite realize how powerful it is and how much work they are going to have to do to replicate that power if they pull out.
Hey, I may pull out too if Yahoo keeps running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but image theft can happen anywhere, not just on flickr.
This is just another fine example of a long standing problem with the flickr model and that of similar sites.
For my purposes, I have been uploading low-res images for some time, and replaced most other image files with low-res versions. Lately I’ve been thinking that if I continue use flickr I’ll upload even smaller files. I’ve not uploaded much to flickr lately (over one year now I think), but I will likely reduce the quality and size of files to uploaded in future. That is all contingent upon me continuing to use flickr. Views on flickr represent a lot of referrals to my personal site, so I will think about the ramifications before leaving.
One should keep in mind that even with a medium quality jpeg at 900×600 ppi it is not difficult to up-res the image to make an acceptable print of 12×18 or even larger. And, of course using for web without the owner’s permission is easy. One should weigh the pros and cons of such issues and see how the balance affects their own needs and goals.
Hi, Richard! As you know, the recent activity of my company, Myxer.com, was one of the catalysts for Jim Goldstein’s masterful article. As he points out in his post, we immediately disabled our Flickr integration when we learned our service was distributing photos beyond the Creative Commons license.
Myk Willis, Myxer’s CEO, recently wrote a post on his personal blog about our Flickr integration, and the creative and philosophical intent powering it. It can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/5bws7f
I encourage you and your audience to read it, if only to learn more about the integration, to understand that Myxer did not sell any of the photos accessed via the Flickr API, and to see what Myxer has learned from this experience. As Myk writes in his post, these are “trying times for a massive number of creative people whose footing has been destabilized in this era of instant, zero-cost distribution of digital content on the internet.”
We’re all finding our footing here, and we appreciate the insight you and other bloggers are bringing to the conversation. If you or your readers need any further information about Myxer or future iterations of our Flickr integration, please feel free to contact me personally.
Best wishes,
–J.C. Hutchins
Social Media Marketing Manager, Myxer.com
jc.hutchins@myxer.com
J.C. I read it and commented. I’m not as militant as some and I think many people forget how great it is to share images far and wide.
Thanks J.C.
I saw this when it was published at Photography Bay and linked back to the Flickr forum discussion. While the thought of someone else making money from my passion does bother me I’m also a realist. There is NO security on the internet. If someone wants what you post on the internet bad enough they will get it. Period.
I’m sure that this has been a big eye opener to Yahoo and will give them a kick in the seat to revise their API use policy. They can’t afford for Flickr to get a sour note and to lose members.
For my part the exposure, knowledge and friendships that I have gained have been wonderful and far outweigh the possibility that my images will be used without my permission. I’m sure that others will feel different but I can certainly be patient and see how this works out.
My 2 cents…
Frank, absolutely, I’m with you all the way. The good far outweighs the bad. I hope they put some time and energy into tightening things up but not so tight they cut off the great social networking tools flickr has and all of us enjoy now.
Time will tell. Yahoo’s upper management problems do not bode well for this issue at flickr.
Although not a photographer in a professional sense, I am reluctant to post any photograph on the net or any other open media for that matter, that could earn me money. (If I was ever that lucky) When you take into consideration that any photograph can be copied for personal use, (if only because you can do it, as most computers can) it is only another step to copy a newsworthy shot and sell it to the press as your own, water marking or not, as that can be removed by the unscrupulous. It is well to remember there isn’t any security on the net, there never has been, and I doubt if that sort of security could ever be enforced. The net or web is anarchy in action, be warned as you may say.
Nev. You’re right, of course. However, in order to make connections with other people one does have to take some risks and I think it’s well worth it. I’ve had numerous shots stolen I’m sure but all in all the good for me has far outweighed the bad. That balance could change I suppose but it would take a lot to get me to stop posting things online.
If I didn’t post things online how would other people see my work?