Twitter Paid $6 or Less for Crowdsourced 'Birdie' Graphic - http://blog.wired.com/busines...
"Unlike Twitter's "fail whale" graphic, which the company purchased outright after it appeared on iStockphoto, Oxley's bird design remains on the site where it can be licensed under the same terms Twitter received. Nothing is stopping people from making sites that ape, mock or build upon Twitter using its own official graphic." - Ontario Emperor