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I am not a user of Instagram but this new policy causes me great anxiety. Why is this you might ask?
Let's first address the change from the perspective of someone that does have an Instagram account and I'll come back to my concerns shortly.
I believe that if you create a piece of work, be it literature, art, photography or anything else, that work is yours and you deserve to benefit from it (should this be possible and should you wish to do so). If you create a photo using Instagram and they are able make money from it they should include you in the profits. I'm not saying they should give you all the revenue, but a percentage share is certainly in order here. This in itself should be optional, if you say they can't use it then that's the end of the matter. What they are proposing will allow them to use any of your pictures, for any purpose, without your permission and without even notifying you this has happened.
Some of the comments left by readers of the above referenced article have left me amazed by the short sightedness of people. They refer to the fact that most pictures are poor quality. True, but some are truly brilliant stunning pieces of work of which the creator should remain in control of. Add to this the constant improvement in camera phones and the app itself and soon all the pictures will be of marketable quality. They say most of the pictures are just people's dinner and food pics, so of little use. Even if this were true there are many businesses that could benefit from good food photos. This, however, is not true. There are a great many photos that are taken of friends and family, including children. It is this that brings me back to being concerned over the change, despite me not having an account myself. I feature in lots of Instagram photos, taken by many people. Some I know, some I don't. Under Instagram's new proposal they can use these pictures for advertising. I might discover my face on an advert for any number of products that I neither like nor endorse. How would you feel if you saw your face as the face of a Haemorrhoid advert online? Not bothered about that. What if it was an advert for a porn site? How about if it was for an advert for something you absolutely abhor - maybe weapons or real fur coats? I for one would be disgusted to discover this.
As a user of Instagram then, are you happy knowing that your images could be making someone somewhere money and you'll never even know. On top of this they might use pictures of your children. These pictures in turn might become used by unscrupulous characters for very different nefarious purposes.
As a non-user of Instagram you can't turn a blind eye either. Your image may appear all over the internet for things you know nothing about. Even if it's something you'd love to be associated with, shouldn't your permission be sought, shouldn't you get paid?
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I am not a user of Instagram but this new policy causes me great anxiety. Why is this you might ask?
Let's first address the change from the perspective of someone that does have an Instagram account and I'll come back to my concerns shortly.
I believe that if you create a piece of work, be it literature, art, photography or anything else, that work is yours and you deserve to benefit from it (should this be possible and should you wish to do so). If you create a photo using Instagram and they are able make money from it they should include you in the profits. I'm not saying they should give you all the revenue, but a percentage share is certainly in order here. This in itself should be optional, if you say they can't use it then that's the end of the matter. What they are proposing will allow them to use any of your pictures, for any purpose, without your permission and without even notifying you this has happened.
Some of the comments left by readers of the above referenced article have left me amazed by the short sightedness of people. They refer to the fact that most pictures are poor quality. True, but some are truly brilliant stunning pieces of work of which the creator should remain in control of. Add to this the constant improvement in camera phones and the app itself and soon all the pictures will be of marketable quality. They say most of the pictures are just people's dinner and food pics, so of little use. Even if this were true there are many businesses that could benefit from good food photos. This, however, is not true. There are a great many photos that are taken of friends and family, including children. It is this that brings me back to being concerned over the change, despite me not having an account myself. I feature in lots of Instagram photos, taken by many people. Some I know, some I don't. Under Instagram's new proposal they can use these pictures for advertising. I might discover my face on an advert for any number of products that I neither like nor endorse. How would you feel if you saw your face as the face of a Haemorrhoid advert online? Not bothered about that. What if it was an advert for a porn site? How about if it was for an advert for something you absolutely abhor - maybe weapons or real fur coats? I for one would be disgusted to discover this.
As a user of Instagram then, are you happy knowing that your images could be making someone somewhere money and you'll never even know. On top of this they might use pictures of your children. These pictures in turn might become used by unscrupulous characters for very different nefarious purposes.
As a non-user of Instagram you can't turn a blind eye either. Your image may appear all over the internet for things you know nothing about. Even if it's something you'd love to be associated with, shouldn't your permission be sought, shouldn't you get paid?
