Can GIFs infringe copyright? In Europe the answer is potentially 'yes'
Facebook GIF button Thanks to Katfriend and scholar Martin Husovec (Tilburg University) this Kat has become aware that, after Facebook , also Twitter is on the move to introduce a dedicated GIF button (although for the moment it is only testing it on its mobile version). As most IPKat readers will know, a GIF [which stands for graphic interchange format and - importantly - must be pronounced with the same soft 'g' of 'gelato'] is "s omething between an emoticon and a video clip" and "l ooks like a short, slightly grainy video file that plays over and over again". Usually GIFs reproduce (very) short extracts of films or other likely-to-be-copyright-protected material, more-often-than-not for non-commercial purposes [if you wish to create your own GIFs, learn how here ] . This Kat is not aware of any specific decision on the copyright status of GIFs, although determining whether a GIF is something that ...