Instagram is filled with photos taken by everyone around the world. Some of these photos are taken by professionals who use Instagram as their portfolio, hoping that it would land them photography gigs or maybe even requests for larger prints in exchange for money. Now it seems that a man by the name of Richard Prince is taking photos from Instagram and reselling them in real-life for money, without the permission of the photographer.
What this means is that if you have a photo that looks like it could be print-worthy, it could be selling for thousands of dollars to someone without your knowledge. What Prince does is that he takes these photos, makes some edits, blows them up, and puts them up for sale. Recently he had an exhibit in New York City in which he sold several pieces for as much as $90,000 each.
Unsurprisingly many have not taken too kindly to Prince’s efforts, with one Instagrammer even sharing her incredulity of the entire ordeal, although oddly enough she decided that she would not be pursuing legal action against Prince. That being said, Prince has been sued in the past for copyright infringement.
He was sued by photographer Patrick Cariou who discovered that Prince had taken some of his photos, made slight adjustments, before selling the collection at a gallery for $10 million. Interestingly enough the Federal Appeals Court sided with Prince, claiming that his work constituted fair use, but what do you guys think?