Brian May snaps at photographer who reported him for copyright infringement
Lead guitarist of rock band Queen has slammed a photographer who reported him to Instagram for copyright infringement after posting a picture of himself.
Brian May, 70, revealed that his Instagram account, with more than 120,000 followers, was temporarily suspended following a complaint from the photographer.
In an Instagram post on Monday, November 13, May shared a screenshot of the copyright violation notice sent to him by Instagram after Barbara Kremer reported that May had published one of her photos of him without permission.
The photo in question was an image of him playing the guitar at a concert.
“I’m usually very careful to credit anyone whose photos I post, but in this case, at the end of the day, I must have forgotten,” said May in the post.
May went on to add his disappointment that the photographer went straight to Instagram as opposed to going directly to him, labelling this “an incredibly unfriendly act”.
According to May, he spent 45 minutes trying to reactivate his account.
Celebrities posting images of themselves on Instagram have been at the centre of copyright infringement disputes previously.
In September, Fashion model Gigi Hadid was sued for allegedly posting a picture of herself on Instagram that belonged to a photographer.
The July 2016 post by the model, wearing a customised Adidas jacket, received over 1.2 million ‘likes’ on Instagram.
In April, Khloé Kardashian became entangled in a copyright row over a photo she posted on Instagram of her and her sister going for a meal in Miami in September 2016.
UK-based photography company Xposure Photos filed the claim at the US District Court for the Central District of California.
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