Olympic Commitee claims that photographing exterior of venues violates copyrights

Cory Doctorow 10:56 am Wed Oct 7, 2009

Jordan sez, "The IOC, believing that it owns the photos in your shoebox, sent a takedown notice to Richard Giles, AWIA member and rather good photographer. I took notice, as we in Vancouver are about to play host to the 2010 Winter Games. It will be impossible to point your camera at anything in this tiny city without catching some Olympic logo or other."

I hope that the IOC is aware that it's about to show up in one of the most media-savvy towns in the world, and that trying to stop private citizens from posting "unauthorized" photos will be nothing short of a fool's errand. This sort of hostility towards Olympic fans is both wasteful and pointless. Does the IOC not understand why people go to the Olympic Games? (Hint: to come home with once-in-a-lifetime memories. This includes things like… photos) If the IOC has trouble understanding what the Internet does, they can probably find someone to ask. My own consulting rate is quite reasonable.

The Olympics may be the most overrated, corrupt, bullying institution we have on an international level (exempting corporations and organized crime syndicates).

IOC Tries to Take Down Olympic Photos on Flickr

(Thanks, Jordan!)

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