I had always been confused about what Copyright actually was. I think this is mainly because with the digital age that we live in, movies, images, music and games can be sent so easily through loopholes without getting caught. I still can’t fathom how we can download a copyrighted movie for free without getting caught. I don’t know anyone that has been caught illegally downloading things, I mean it should be easy right? Just find out what IP addresses have been downloading and voilà!
So, whilst I still find all the concepts of Copyright and The Creative Commons and licensing baffling I have tried to dig deep into the Terms and Conditions of Instagram (Instagram 2013). As I have a gathered, Instagram owns the right to do whatever they please with the content you post but will not claim the image as their own. Instagram also have no say in what Third-Party Properties do with your images… unless your profile is on private (Instagram 2013). If you are to dispute the use of your image by a third-party property, Instagram has claimed in their Terms and Conditions they have nothing to do with any legal issues if you wish to take the case further and if you are sued for posting someone else’s photo you must pay all of the fees (Instagram 2013). Crazy what we are signing into right?
I did come across on the magical inter-web that you can actually get a Creative Commons license for your Instagram account through i-am-cc.org (Harmon 2012). I did find out though that even if you own a Creative Commons License it doesn’t just totally disregard Instagram’s Terms of Conditions so people can still use your photos for whatever. By Instagram having an Open Content form of licensing it is amazing for avid sharers and music mixers but for those celebrities that own the app, they can’t make anymore money than they’ve already got (poor them) and for us, well if one of our photos makes it big time, we won’t become overnight millionaires. Dream on!
Sources:
Instagram 2013, Terms of Use, Instagram, viewed 20th March 2014, http://instagram.com/legal/terms/
Instagram 2013, API Terms of Use, Instagram, viewed 20th March 2014, http://instagram.com/about/legal/terms/api/
Instagram 2013, Privacy Policy, Instagram, viewed 20th March 2014, http://instagram.com/legal/privacy/
Soltero, A 2012, 6 Things Everyone Should Know About Instagram, The Social U, Viewed 20th March 2014, http://thesocialu101.com/6-things-everyone-should-know-about-instagram/
Harmon, E 2012, Should Instagram Adopt CC Licensing, Creative Commons, viewed on 20th March 2014, file:///Users/maddygreig/Desktop/BCM112/ASSIGNMENT%201/Should%20Instagram%20Adopt%20CC%20Licensing%3F%20-%20Creative%20Commons.webarchive
Oh Madeline 