back to article 'Instagram, you were my favourite app and you stabbed me in the back'

This was the week when Instagram made the corporate faux pas of the holiday season when it told all of its hipster users that their photos didn't belong to them, the people who'd shot the images, but to Instagram, which had provided the "quirky filters" and host servers, and now wished to use the snaps any way it liked. It …

COMMENTS

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  1. Thomas 4

    "We respect that your photos are your photos..."

    ...but we're still going to use them and receive money for doing so anyway.

    1. The First Dave
      FAIL

      Re: "We respect that your photos are your photos..."

      "Legal documents are easy to misinterpret."

      They really, really, really shouldn't be - that is the whole point: to be very very specific.

  2. frank ly

    xkcd has this nailed

    http://xkcd.com/1150/

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Instagram users are "hipsters".... more bollox not worth the pixels or time reading, next article.

    1. Lamont Cranston

      A quick survey of everyone I know that uses Instagram,

      reveals that 66% of them work in media. OK, so my sample size was 3, but still...

  4. Turtle

    "Knowledge And Compensation..."

    "IP and Instagram - a Teaching Moment Perhaps? (original article at http://voxindie.org/instagram-copyright ) - The internet was abuzz earlier this week when popular photo sharing site Instagram implemented changes in its terms of service that raised concerns about what it would be able to do with users’ photos. Instagram has since backed off in response to the outcry, but the reaction has led Ellen Seidler to wonder if this would lead to increased recognition of the importance of copyright. Seidler notes that one comment, saying 'My photos will not sell without my knowledge and compensation. I spend time on my pictures' is 'essentially what content creators have been saying for a long time in rebuttal to claims that online piracy is OK.'” - From http://www.copyhype.com/

  5. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Pirate

    Instagrams big idea ...

    will be something like a package they can offer to corporates for dynamic marketing.

    Let's take Starbucks as an example. Instagram sign them up to the "platinum" package. Everytime a photo is uploaded from a Starbucks, or featuring a Starbucks, Instagram will flag it, so that Starbucks can feature it in a dynamic ad. Maybe a picture on their website "The latest satisfied customer".

    It would be a shame if inappropriate images were to get through though. Like somebody holding a banner saying STARBUCKS in big letters and "pay more tax" in little letters. But I am sure the system would be flawless.

  6. Mr Young
    Unhappy

    Santa Tracking getting debased is it?

    How sad - before we know it there will be an all expenses paid committee to investigate competition in the Santa Tracking market.

  7. defiler
    FAIL

    "Legal documents are easy to misinterpret."

    Then fire your legal team. Legal documents must be utterly free of ambiguity so that if someone challenges them you can defend your position. Sure, sometimes the language used can be in knots and a bind to untangle, but there should be no way to come dto a diffrerent conclusion than that intended by the author.

    1. John Tserkezis

      Re: "Legal documents are easy to misinterpret."

      Then fire your legal team. Legal documents must be utterly free of ambiguity so that if someone challenges them you can defend your position. Sure, sometimes the language used can be in knots and a bind to untangle, but there should be no way to come dto a diffrerent conclusion than that intended by the author.

      Yeah right, you just defended the Instagram statement while making it sound like you actually care. Bollocks.

      That's a nice way of saying "We're going to spell out our terms and conditions in a manner that is legally upholdable to what WE want, but worded in a manner that makes it look like the user will continue to get what they used to, but in fact will be royally shafted without them realising it".

      1. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

        Re: "Legal documents are easy to misinterpret."

        There is a basic rule to contracts, which also explains why they are wilfully complex and boring:

        The first part gives, the last part takes it away (and then some). Also known as "the devil hides in the small print".

        There is one variant which is worse (and I'm impressed companies get away with it), the "implied acceptance" clause of a site's T&Cs which means they simply have to change them to own your house and daughter, because it's up to you to check if they have changed anything.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You still own the photos but...

    You still own the photos but Instagram is granting themselves full right to your IP in a way that gives them the equivalent of shared ownership.

    This kind of IP grab should have been expected, its how Facebook operates.

    1. ItsNotMe

      Re: You still own the photos but...

      Sure you should be using "intellectual" & Farcebook in the same sentence?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    Legal documents are easy to misinterpret. Again.

    So that's why you paid vast amounts of money to lawyers to make sure they said exactly what you meant them to say.

    WhyOhWhy do these PR people think that we believe the utter bollocks that they talk, even for one minute?

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Very simple solution..

    .. make sure you have your copyright notice visible on the picture itself, which makes it hard for them to use it. US copyright law makes interference with a copyright notice a criminal offence with a per instance fine of $2500.

    Notice: a CRIMINAL offence. That means you don't have to feed the lawyer - the state does it.

    In the UK this is harder, as there are no explicit statements in the copyright laws, and you have to use civil court to pursue abuse unless you can prove violation takes place on a massive scale, at which point you will have to convince the police to act (good luck with that).

    Ergo, it's better to use US copyright law - the irony..

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Very simple solution..

      You agree to their terms when you upload the picture.

      If you don't agree - don't upload it.

      If you want to go around saying the contract doesn't count - then presumably you go to prison for your unauthorised access to their computer system

  11. Tree
    Windows

    Facebutt is really evil

    Your identity, surfing habits, photos and purchase history for sale to the highest bidder! How else is Suckerburg going to raise the money to buy Instagram? Look for stealthy changes to the privacy policy to happen from time to time. If you value your privacy and do not want everyone to look at your pictures, do not store them on the internet. Even your bank balance may not be private online.

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