Instagram Asks Judge to Dismiss Class Action Lawsuit
By Sarah Pierce
Photo-sharing service Instagram Inc. urged a federal judge Wednesday to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit alleging its new User Policy abuses users by selling their photos to third-party advertisers.
Plaintiff Lucy Funes sued the Facebook-owned company in December after Instagram announced it was changing its terms of service so that it would have the right to license public Instagram photos to third parties, including for advertising purposes, without notifying or compensating the photographer.
The announcement drew immediate backlash, including Funes’ class action lawsuit. Funes alleges the new user agreement violates the property rights of Instagram users and breached its existing terms of service.
The changes went into effect January 16.
Instagram told a federal judge Wednesday that the plaintiffs failed to show they were injured by the rule change and said the class action lawsuit “depends on wrongheaded, even frivolous, legal theories.”
The company argues Funes was not injured because she is not alleging her content was misappropriated. She can cancel her Instagram account at any time.
“To access and use Instagram’s free online photo-sharing service, individuals must agree to be bound by Instagram’s terms of use. Individuals who do not agree to these terms are free to not use the service or to terminate their accounts, just as with any other free service on the Internet,” Instagram said.
Funes stated in her class action lawsuit that Instagram is making a “grab for customer property rights” and is attempting to protect itself by telling users they can delete their accounts if they don’t like it.
“In short,” Funes said, “Instagram declares that ‘possession is nine-tenths of the law and if you don’t like it, you can’t stop us.'”
The Instagram class action lawsuit is seeking to void parts of the terms of service, including sections waiving legal damages against Instagram and those granting the company ownership over user photos.
The case is Lucy Funes v. Instagram Inc. et al., Case No. 12-cv-06482, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Funes is represented by Jeffrey R. Krinsk and Mark L. Knutson of Finkelstein & Krinsk LLP.
Updated February 15th, 2013
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
