Freda
Rave Bonfire used my photo on their website without my permission
Recently, I found out that this brand used my personal photo to market their products. I just happened to visit their website one day and saw my photo first thing when the site loaded. I texted the website URL to friends and once again, my photo showed up as the thumbnail. They never asked me for permission to do this. Granted, I did tag them 2 years ago when I posted it on my Instagram account. However, a tag is not an authorization for the brand to use my photo, especially on something as prominent as the main photo on their website and URL thumbnail/link preview. I contacted the brand and they took down my photo. I appreciate their prompt action and response. However, I'm disappointed that they did not apologize. Accountability costs a business almost nothing and does a lot to rebuild trust and respect. Per Instagram's Community Terms of Use: "Everyone on the Service is prohibited from doing the following: Being deceptive, or doing anything unlawful, misleading or fraudulent, or violating someone else’s rights (including using their content without permission)." I don’t think what they did fits with Instagram’s own rules about using people’s content without permission. I'm giving 1 star for this experience, but I do like the jerseys, so I'll add a star for the product.