On Friday, Business Insider used a Flickr photo of two Best Buy employees to illustrate a story about the company’s struggle to compete with online retailers. The photo depicts an employee with his hands over his face, looking like he’s crying, while the other employee puts an arm around him and looks into the camera.
The photo is licensed under Creative Commons. Anyone can share it as long as they attribute the photo; don’t use it for commercial purposes; and don’t alter, transform or build upon it. Business Insider followed those rules, linking to the photo’s home on Flickr in the credit line.
But was it an appropriate use? Anyone is free to use it if they meet the Creative Commons conditions. I doubt the employees pictured were mourning (or pretending to mourn?) their employer’s floundering retail strategy… but does that matter?
Would you have used this photo with that story?
Rough draft of history 