‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all throughout the offices of Instagram, everyone was stirring… especially the company’s lawyers.
Earlier this week on Christmas Eve, news came to light that the popular photo-sharing service is being targeted in a new class-action lawsuit. It should be noted, however, that the suit was filed before the recent move by Instagram to revert back to its original terms of service.
The lawsuit argues says that Instagram’s unpopular new terms of service “transfer valuable property rights to Instagram while simultaneously relieving Instagram from any liability for commercially exploiting customers’ photographs and artistic content, while shielding Instagram from legal liability.”
Instagram was, in short, blasted for making a “grab for customer property rights.” Plaintiff Lucy Funes of San Diego, California is bringing forward the suit in an attempt to “preserve valuable and important property, statutory, and legal rights” before legal action is “forever barred by adoption of Instagram’s New Terms.”
Representatives for Instagram’s parent company Facebook tells Reuters that the “complaint is without merit and we will fight it vigorously.”
