There has been some recent discussion regarding our use of photos under a Creative Commons license. Some readers have objected to our posting of images with noncommercial restrictions, arguing that our parent organization, Gothamist LLC, is for-profit, and we therefore should not be considered appropriate users of those photos.

We continue to believe that based on our revenue sharing arrangement with Gothamist, the way in which copyright responsibility is placed on writers, and the fact that our writers are uncompensated, our use of noncommercial Creative Commons images is acceptable. But, since we respect the ideals behind Creative Commons and the opinions of artists as we’ve heard them, we have decided not to use photos on which a noncommercial condition has been placed.

One exception, though. We often take pictures from Flickr that are tagged “DCist,” understanding that such a tag constitutes a license for us to use the picture on our site. This benefits us because it gives us great shots to work with, and benefits local photographers because it gives them an outlet for their work. We faithfully credit the shots we use, and if a particularly photographer does not want his or her work displayed on the site, we’re more than willing to remove the pictures in question. We will continue this practice.

Keep those photos coming! If there is one thing we have learned, it’s that the District’s photo bloggers are second to none, and we’re honored to have the chance to display their work.