The ban on GIFs of Olympic events sparks anger and creativity on Twitter

TORONTO – A prohibition on Olympic GIFs has inspired a slew of tweets lamenting — or advising how to work around — the International Olympic Committee’s copyright regulations.

In advance of the Rio games, the IOC extended its broadcasting restrictions to say that only accredited media outlets could show Olympic content in GIFs, Vines and other and other forms of short digital animation and video.

That means fans can’t GIF Olympic competitions, medal ceremonies, interviews, opening and closing ceremonies or anything that occurs inside the athletes’ village.

And Twitter, a natural habitat for GIFs, is alive with angry, disappointed GIF fans.

Twitter’s terms of use say the site respects intellectual property rights and expects its users to do the same.

The terms of use also indicate that tweets or accounts that violate copyright may be removed from Twitter.

The GIF-less Rio Olympics are a stark change from 2014, when the Internet was abuzz with GIF coverage of the winter games in Sochi, Russia.

But social media sports fans have found creative ways to GIF the Olympics, without running afoul of the IOC’s copyright.