Void of Copyright

As the world’s first image of a black hole captivated the world’s attention, Beijing-based stock photo agency VCG found itself in a galaxy of trouble when it charged money for its use. The European Southern Observatory released the photo on April 10 for free with proper attribution under a Creative Commons license. VCG had claimed they obtained usage rights from the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, the international astronomy network of radio telescopes behind the image, and unauthorized commercial use would be in violation of copyright. This enraged netizens, leading some to call out VCG for also selling images of national flags and logos of other businesses. According to reports, compensation for copyright violations has been big business for VCG, which files several hundred such lawsuits every year. Authorities have since ordered the company to rectify its own copyright issues.