The issue with instagram’s policy on intellectual property being only reportable by the owner is that it assumes that the artist is going to be able to see every post that infringes on them. Some artists have big accounts and it’s not possibly to contact them in a timely matter. The fact of the matter is, there are more stolen art posts being made than there are posts being taken down by the original artists. 

Currently, the policy is that only the rights owner can report their stolen art. Why is this an issue? Because it ignores the fact that the majority of the reposts, the artist never sees. The reason for reporting is if the artist isn’t credit or tagged; if they are not tagged, then how are they supposed to know if it’s existence and report it? 

If I, another artist who has stumbled across art theft, see a post that is clearly stealing someone else’s content, why can I not report it? If I have sent obvious proof (a link to said repost not crediting/claiming as their own, a link to the original post and original artist’s account, and screenshots of differing dates), then what is stopping instagram from taking it down? 

What would this policy change do? As an independent artist, I speak for other lesser-known artists on instagram. It is nerve-wracking to post your art and not know who might be reposting or copying it. Personally, I feel like I constantly have to look for my own art and monitor where it’s been reposted. But if other people could report it, in the case that I never see it, that would take some of the weight off. 

The amount of times that stolen art is taken down with this flawed system is so much smaller than the amount of stolen/traced/copied art still up getting likes and recognition towards those who didn’t make it. Posting someone’s intellectual property without permission/credit is against instagram policy, and violates copyright laws. So why do they make it so difficult to report it? Other social media’s allow non-artists to report infringement as long as there is undeniable proof, and Instagram needs to do this. 

Instagram must consider tweaking their policies to allow other people to report theft as long as they have undeniable proof. It is illogical to have a policy claiming art theft is not allowed on Instagram, but then have it next to impossible to report it. Art theft happens too frequently on instagram, and this is undoubtedly a part of the problem. Changing policies would help teach instagram users about the importance of respecting independent artists and their content.

Thank you for your time,

Mordecai Jadlos

(@thoughtfulgrapes or @artpoliceofficial on instagram)