Twitpic, a photo-sharing website for Twitter, will be shut down on September 25 because of a legal dispute. The company who made the third-party application close up shop is none other than Twitter itself.
According to a blog post by Twitpic founder Noah Everett, the company was contacted by Twitter's legal team to drop its trademark application or lose the API code that allows users to share picture and videos on the social networking site.
"This came as a shock to us since Twitpic has been around since early 2008, and our trademark application has been in the USPTO since 2009," Everett writes.
Twitpic was popular during the early days of Twitter when users could not share pictures directly through the site. Thanks to Twitpic, an image of a US Airway plane that landed in the Hudson River in New York City was tweeted and went viral, putting Twitter on the map as a source for news.
In 2011, Twitter included the ability to tweet photos and videos directly from the site. As a result, Twitpic is no longer needed. Twitter's on-site photo sharing capabilities set tensions rising.
"We're sad to see Twitpic is shutting down," a Twitter spokesperson says. "We encourage developers to build on top of the Twitter service, as Twitpic has done for years, and we made it clear that they could operate using the Twitpic name. Of course, we also have to protect our brand, and that includes trademarks tied to the brand."
Recently Twitter has come down on third-party applications, narrowing access to its API to give users "a consistent Twitter experience."
Everett was contacted by Twitter's legal team a few weeks ago, which he calls the first "instance of pressure from Twitter" since 2008.
"Unfortunately we do not have the resources to fend off a large company like Twitter to maintain our mark which we believe whole heartedly is rightfully ours," Everett writes.
Without API access, Twitpic would be nothing. Everett either had to give up ownership or close up shop. Instead, he will focus on a messaging app called Pingly.
Twitpic will release a new feature to let users export their photos and videos in the next few days.
