Embedding Posts Without Permission Can Lead To Copyright Claim: Instagram Warns Users

Instagram has clarified to users that if they embed posts of other users on third-party websites without seeking permission, they can face a copyright claim for it.

(Photo by GETTY/ Alvin Chan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

San Francisco: Instagram has made it clear that people will need permission to use embedded photos of other Instagram users on third-party websites or platforms. It means that if an Instagram user wants to embed someone's Instagram post on another website, he or she needs to ask the person for a copyright license, else he or she can be subject to a copyright lawsuit. According to a report in Ars Technica, the Facebook-owned platform will not provide users a copyright license to display embedded images on other websites. To date, users believed that embedding images, rather than hosting them directly, provide insulation against copyright claims. "While our terms allow us to grant a sub-license, we do not grant one for our embeds API," a Facebook company spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report. "Our platform policies require third parties to have the necessary rights from applicable rights holders. This includes ensuring they have a license to share this content if a license is required by law". The news came after a New York judge ruled that Newsweek cannot dismiss a photographer's complaint based on Instagram's terms of service. Instagram told Ars Technica it was "exploring" more ways for users to control embedding. For now, photographers can only stop embeds by making photographs private, which strictly limits their reach on Instagram.