(via @daryllang): Toyota U.S.A. has removed a photo feature from one of its Web sites and apologized to Flickr photographers whose images appeared on the site without their permission.

Flickr users recently noticed that a Toyota 4Runner site was running some outdoorsy photos that appeared to be copied from Flickr. A Flickr forum soon lit up with gripes about the Toyota site, including complaints from photographers who said they hadn't given permission for their pictures to been used in an ad.

Flickr user Jakerome identified over 40 Flickr images used on the 4Runner site and compiled them in three galleries...

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Toyota ran into a sticky situation recently when it launched a new website for one of its vehicles, and the repercussions could have a lasting effect on branded websites that aggregate consumer-generated social media.

Toyota and its agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, launched a microsite for the 4Runner SUV that portrayed the vehicle as a perfect tool for outdoors escapes. The site incorporated Twitter streams and nature photography feeds from Flickr. The problem was that the Flickr stream started bringing in images from several photographers that were labeled all rights reserved -- meaning Toyota needed permission to use the photos, according to Ad Age.

The photos were quickly pulled, and the company said it will compensate the photographers, but the larger issue of aggregating social content remains. The photos linked back to the original Flickr pages, and while that's standard practice in the social sphere, it's not enough from a legal standpoint.

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The snafu reveals a structural problem with agency hiring: Agencies often prefer very young creative staff, often under 30 and certainly under 40. But young ‘uns who grew up with the internet often erroneously believe that material published on Flickr is either “free” or in the “public domain” and can be used without permission. The images in question were not published under the Creative Commons function on Flickr, which designates copyright-free material.

It’s the second time recently that Saatchi has gotten into trouble on the Toyota account. The agency was sued by a woman who said she was “terrorized” by a hoax campaign for the Toyota Matrix.

About 40 images were used without photographers’ permission. One of the photogs, Snorri Gunnarsson, had a dramatic photo of the sea swirling around some rocks at sunset. He said on his blog:

… when big corporations and well known ad agencies that of course have their own work copyrighted to the teeth, start behaving like kids on Pirate-bay, then that is just too much. This is not a case of fair use or for educational purposes, this is just to sell a car. Nothing wrong with selling a car, but then I also want to get paid for the use of my image.

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