Instagram Denies It Claimed Ownership Of Users’ Images

Instagram, the photo sharing service owned by Facebook, had to issue a hurried climb-down when a massive user protest greeted its new terms and conditions, which appeared to claim the right to sell users images and use them in advertising.

The change made to its terms and conditions, which would come into affect on 16 January 2013, prompted fears that it would be able to sell users’ uploaded images. Angry users took to Twitter to vent their anger, with reports of users even closing their Instagram accounts.

The move also prompted the National Geographic to suspend its use of the service – announcing the move appropriately enough with an image uploaded to Instagram.

And unsurprisingly Instagram competitors also did not take long to make their views public of the Instagram changes. Photo-sharing service Glopho for example labelled the changes as ‘extraordinarily unfair’.

“The idea of free-to-use and dominant social platforms with millions of users forcibly making sweeping changes to its policies, like those announced by Instagram recently, seems extraordinarily unfair on the user,” said Glopho CEO and Founder, Simon Walker.

“We have always believed that sharing photos was a great idea, and with my own background in press photography I realised there could be real value in some of those photos,” said Walker. “That is why Glopho actively seeks to sell those photos that users upload that we believe have the greatest value, but we are clear that ownership should remain with the user and that commercial use is agreed under licence. The revenue generated from such licensing is shared equally with the picture owner.”

“To propose snatching that value away from users seems remarkable, and we think will see a predictable backlash against any organisation or service that tries to do so,” he added. “The consumer is better informed and has more choices than these policy changes seem to give them credit for.”

:story: TechWeekEurope