This is an object lesson in publicly and effectively shaming a copyright violator.
Richard Bram, an insanely talented street photographer, member of the In-Public street photography cooperative, and a friend of Adorama, checked into Instagram on November 1st and learned one of his most popular photos appeared in the feed of of someone who goes by the handle “photo_street_journey”, without permission or credit.
The photo (which appeared in an article Bram wrote in 2012 for the Adorama Learning Center) appears multiple times in the offending feed, along with notes from satisfied customers.
Bram reported the copyright violation (that’s his photo on the left side, above) to Instagram. A few hours later, he got a response. In the meantime, he posted the following message on his popular Facebook feed:
“This pathetic loser has stolen one of my best-known photos for his page promoting his methods to get fake follower numbers! I’ve formally reported this to Instagram, but if anyone wants to rain the wrath if the gods upon him, please feel free.”
Within minutes of his early-morning request, many of Bram’s 2,500-plus Facebook friends obliged, commenting on photo_street_journey’s feed. There were dozens of responses not just to this image, but to other images that were clearly stolen and not credited. Bram also shamed him on Twitter, which is where he was first alerted. Bram’s friends pulled no punches:
But wait…there’s more.
We did a little digging: The alleged offender is one Iain Stanley , and he appears to be using photos by Bram and others (including the late Garry Winogrand and Vivian Meier, as well as several other living street photographers) in order to promote a “free” guide that he claims will bring users thousands of followers on social media. Once you join his email list, you get access to the “guide,” which consists of a bunch of teasers to get you to buy “Build Instagram Big” for only $17. So, Stanley is apparently making money off of the unauthorized use of professional photographs.
Just to make matters worse, Stanley calls his feed “My Street Photo Journey”, which seems to imply the photos in his feed are his original work.
UPDATE: Bram reports the following response from Instagram, which came about 6 hours later:
After sending them a detailed, polite and formal complaint, I just received this in a note from IG: “Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We have removed or disabled access to the content that you reported for violating the Instagram Terms of Use. We understand that this action resolves your intellectual property issue.”
‘The guy’s feed is still there, but my photo has been removed. Brassai, Winogrand, Maier, and others are all still there, but Instagram did indeed resolve my issue in particular. Waddya know?
