Media companies pay up for nicking snaps
 

Two media companies have been ordered to write a cheque for $US1.2 million to a freelance photojournalist for their unauthorised use of photographs he posted to Twitter.

The court found that Agence France-Presse and Getty Images wilfully violated the Copyright Act when they used photos Daniel Morel took in his native Haiti after the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people.

The case is one of the first to make a ruling on how images that individuals make available to the public through social media can be used by third parties to make a bob or two.

According to ABC, it is likely to be the first time any other major digital licensor of photography, have been found liable for wilful violations of the US Copyright Act.

US District Judge Alison Nathan, who presided over the trial, ruled in January the two companies were liable for infringement.

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