Copious Notes

UPDATE BELOW

It’s Christmas morning, and you and the family have gathered around the tree to open presents.

Your youngest gets that certain something they have been dying for, and embraces it with the perfect “squeeeee!” expression.

And you got the shot with your smartphone. Excited, you want to share it with all your friends and family.

But you might want to think twice about sharing it on Instagram.

Yes, sometimes we photograph our food on Instagram, particularly when it looks as good as these ears of corn from The Local Taco.

In the latest social media privacy and intellectual property kerfuffle, Instagram released new terms of service that have users up in arms because they effectively give it and parent company Facebook the right to use any images posted on the service in any way they please, including advertising.

The terms of service, set to be effective Jan. 16, say, “You agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.”

The professional photography world has been particularly outraged by this as photographers are used to being compensated for their images, particularly when working with commercial interests. The idea that a major company could just grab their picture, even one shot with a cellphone camera, and sell with no remuneration it is anathema to them.

The move even drew the ire of Facebook founder and owner Mark Zuckerberg’s wedding photographer, Noah Kalina, who tweeted, “pro or not if a company wants to use your photos for advertising they need to TELL you and PAY you.”

Since this firestorm broke, there has been a calm-yourself crowd making points from Instagram’s policy may not hold up in court, though presumably it has been crafted by lawyers, to “no one’s going to buy pictures of your food.”

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