Instagram reverts changes to licensing policies

Instagram

flickr- JAMoutinho

Following severe criticism from its users, Instagram has reverted its proposed policy changes, which would have provided the photo-sharing company with the right to sell its users' public photographs without prior consent or notification. 

The dramatic policy shift that sparked outcry was first announced in December 2012, but was reversed a week later. To avoid complications, the company has made the decision to revert its advertisement policy back to the original 2010 format. 

The proposed policy changes had deleted the phrase that granted the company a "limited license" over their users' photographs, whilst the words "transferable" and "sub-licensable" were included instead. Another addition made the claim that other businesses could pay Instagram to use its users' images for promotional content, without granting any compensation to the person who uploads the photographs to the site.

Many critics were quick to correlate these changes to Instagram's new management, the social networking site Facebook, which bought Instagram for $1 billion in cash and company stock in April 2012.

Although the company had previously stated that it would like to experiment with different forms of advertisement to make money, it has promised to fully develop its plans next time before making any sudden changes. In addition, the company stressed that it never intended to sell their user's photos.