New ‘Charlie Hebdo’ editor scolds US media: When you blur our cover, ‘you blur out democracy’

[Ms. Toad]

22. Seeing it all the time,

is not the same as following a practice which complies with the law.

There is a greater likelihood that an image used without consent will be determined to be fair use than many other uses - but the code you cited to does not grant newsmedia the right to use others' images merely by giving attribution to the source. It describes a limited set of circumstances in which you may have a defense when the copyright owner comes calling.

That limited defense is not a free pass to news media.

The Daniel Morel vs AFP/Getty Images saga has been going on since 2010 when the agencies first pulled his photos off of Twitter and distributed them without permission to several major publications. Now the saga has finally ended, and ended on very happy terms for Morel, who is walking away from the deal $1.2 million richer.

http://petapixel.com/2013/11/23/daniel-morel-awarded-1-2m-damages-law-suit-afp-getty-images/

And by clients, I mean real live paying clients who come to me for legal advice on copyright matters.