Is it ok to reshare other people’s content on your Instagram feed? Many of us do this regularly but I think sometimes there’s a bit of confusion around the best way to go about it….
So…what is ‘best practice’ for sharing other people’s content on your feed? Here below are the ‘actual rules’ and some golden advice from some of Instagram’s best.
First up…What are the actual rules?
Instagram actually sets them out quite clearly in their terms of service; On the ‘Community Guidelines’ page they say; “Share only photos and videos that you’ve taken or have the right to share. As always, you own the content you post on Instagram. Remember to post authentic content, and don’t post anything you’ve copied or collected from the Internet that you don’t have the right to post.”
In the copyright section of the Terms of Use, Instagram goes on to say;
Under Instagram’s Terms of Use and Community Guidelines, you can only post content to Instagram if it doesn’t violate the intellectual property rights of another party. The best way to help make sure that the content you post to Instagram doesn’t violate copyright law is to only post content that you’ve created yourself.
You might also be able to use someone else’s content on Instagram if you’ve gotten permission (for example, a license), or if your use is covered by fair use or some other exception to copyright. It’s generally a good idea to get permission before posting content, and to get that permission in writing.
Please note that Instagram can’t help you obtain permission to use copyrighted content.
Before you post content on Instagram, you may want to ask:
- Did I create all of the content myself?
- Do I have permission to use all of the content included in my post?
- Does my use of the content fall within an exception to copyright infringement?
- Is the content protected by copyright (for example, is it a short phrase, idea or public domain work)?
It comes down to Intent
From what I can gather, it really comes down to what the ‘post-er’s intent is in sharing a particular image. General consensus is that re-gramming is a cool thing to do if you are doing so in a respectful way that is clearly intended as showing appreciation for and celebrating a particular creator rather than using their work to sell something of yours (directly or indirectly). If it’s the latter, it’s a good idea to contact the original creator first and ask for permission.
Best practice
If you want to be absolutely sure you’re ticking all the boxes, here they are….
- Contact the original creator of that piece of content
- Send them a Direct Message, or comment in the picture or email and ask for permission to re-post.
- Wait for the answer.
- If it’s ‘yep cool thanks for asking’, then go ahead!
- Clean repost the content (either using the image that the creator has emailed to you or taking a screenshot an then editing out everything but the image – but don’t crop or edit it, repost exactly as the original creator did or you could be changing their work and they might not appreciate that!).
- Credit the original creator properly. And rather than just putting a ‘camera’ emoji and their name, you might say something like; ‘this image was created by @janebloggs, her work is absolutely beautiful – head over to her feed to see more and follow along!’. Also tag her in the photo.
What can happen if I don’t re-gram properly?
Someone could complain to Instagram and have your account disabled.
You could lose the respect of your community.
You could come across as unprofessional and unethical.
Advice from the experts – Sara Tasker
Sara Tasker is a UK-based Instagram expert and coach. Her first book Hashtag Authentic and podcast of the same name is the gold standard when it comes to learning and inspiration for all things Instagram.
What is your take posting other people’s content on your Instagram Feed? How have people posted your pics on their feed in a way that worked for you?
When done well it’s a great way to reduce the burden of constantly creating original content, and can make for a great curated account. As a creator, it’s generally a welcome boost to be featured by another account and have new eyes sent your way – so when it’s done properly, everybody wins.
How do you feel when people re-post your work on their feeds even if it’s captioned/credited?
If it’s clearly credited, I’m ok with it. It becomes uncomfortable when somebody reposts without permission, or tries to get around giving due credit in sneaky ways. Occasionally people will repost or edit my work to promote something I truly disagree with – for example weight loss supplements – and then I’m more likely to complain.
Do you think people should email first and ask for permission?
I think asking for permission is a gold standard for reposting work – whether by email, IG DM or just commenting on the photo. The problem is that everyone is so busy, and it’s easy for such messages to get missed. If you’re not able to ask first on every occasion, you need to be willing to remove any content if a creator complains. Ultimately, they can always file a copyright dispute with Instagram and get your post removed, so it’s in your best interest to always get approval before it reaches that point.
What are your thoughts on IG feeds that are entirely or mostly a curated stream of other people’s pictures?
It’s not what Instagram was originally conceived for, but a creative community will always creep out into new directions. Some folk have an incredible eye for design or content, but aren’t photographers themselves, and the galleries they build using found imagery can be truly wonderful to explore. When it comes to social media, most people are looking for a deeper connection though, and we expect an Instagram to show something of somebody’s personal life. I’m less likely to follow a curated account for this reason – if it’s a choice between that or the original creators, I’d rather go straight to the source and see the whole creative process as it unfolds day by day.
Advice from the experts – Pip Brett, The Sonic Orange
Pip is the woman behind The Sonic in Orange and runs two beautiful and successful Instagram feeds for her two business @jumbledonline (86k followers) and @igloustore (17k). Her feeds are mostly original content with images from people she loves, brands she stocks and infographics with cute quotes popping up here and there.
Q: What is your take posting other people’s content on your Instagram Feed? How do you do it?
I love to share other peoples work on insta because I feel that sharing is caring. I want to promote the people who inspire me daily to my followers as I think that they might love a feed as much as I do. I have feature an account every Monday as my #jumbledinstafind I like to tag in the comment and also on the image.
Q: How do you feel when people re-post your work, even if it’s captioned/credited?
You can tell when a person is trying to hide that you are the creator of the image….they hide it at the very bottom of a comment. I find this disappointing, but I feel like insta karma works it out in the end. This almost happens on a daily basis, but I do feel like at least it gets my work and business out there…and the people who want to find you WILL!
Q: Do you think people should email first and ask for permission?
No, I don’t email first. I might send a DM, but i usually just tag and mention them in a comment and how much I love them. I am not trying to hide who the image is by, but more showcase them. I have only ever had lovely comments back saying thank you for sharing.
Q: Curating is creating. Or is it? What are your thoughts on IG feeds that are entirely or mostly a curated stream of other people’s pictures?
I find it irritating when people credit “Pinterest” or “Image Source Unknown” as an image creator as it actually doesn’t take that long to find the true source of the image. I love some of the curated feeds like @worldarchitecturedesign that is a daily dose of inspo and they always credit the architect, designers, photographer and location. Sharing is caring!
Advice from the experts – Annabelle Hickson
Annabelle is a writer, photographer, podcaster and author of A Tree in the House. She is also a creator of highly shareable images and her feed is one of the loveliest and most beautifully written ones ‘on the gram’.
Q: What is your take posting other people’s content on your Instagram Feed? How do you do it?
As a rule I don’t post other people’s pictures on my instagram account. That’s not to say I haven’t, but just rarely. If done with the right intention, I think it can be a really positive thing. Conversely it can just be really lazy PR.
Let’s start with lazy PR, where a company which you have no relationship with will use one of your photos and put it up on their feed to plug whatever there is they are selling. They may or may not credit you. Either way, their intention is to use your image to bulk up their content to spruik their stuff. I don’t like it, but I don’t think there is any point in getting angry and worked up. I would say you are better off channelling your energy into following new creative endeavours rather than raging. The more you create and share, the more you learn and then the more you create and share, and learn and on it goes. That is the true reward. As such, is it really a big deal if a few images are used with questionable intentions?
Q: How do you feel when people re-post your work, even if it’s captioned/credited?
Sometimes, if someone uses one of your images to spruik their stuff and decides to credit you, it can connect you with some of their audience that would otherwise not have even seen your account. These new eyes might want to employ you, buy whatever it is you are selling, recommend you to someone else who may want to employ you. It only takes one right connection to spark all sorts of new opportunities. So even in the lazy PR scenario, it is not necessarily all bad. I do think it is good manners to ask for permission before posting someone’s photo, especially when you are using it to sell something (directly or indirectly) and I think it is ethically imperative to credit appropriately. If you take the time to ask for permission, you can also ask for the best way to credit the photographer. If you’re getting content for your feed for free, it’s the least you can do.
In other scenarios, people have posted my pictures on their feed with very kind and supportive intentions. These are the posts where the “poster” sings the praises of the “postee”, shining their light on some aspect of their work. It’s wonderful and generous and reflects what can be so good about instagram. I am thrilled when people do this and I don’t think permission is required because the intention is so generous. I also love to do this to other people, mostly with my own images, but sometimes with theirs.
Q: Do you think people should email first and ask for permission?
I do generally ask for permission, but I could not swear that I have 100 per cent of the time. Instagram works best when we are generous about other people doing interesting things, rather than a one way transmission of Me Me Me.
Q: Curating is creating. Or is it? What are your thoughts on IG feeds that are entirely or mostly a curated stream of other people’s pictures?
Curating is creating, I have no doubt about that. But selling is selling. Some feeds that rely on other people’s pictures are there to sell, but others really are valuable curations. For example, I adore the feed @__nitch which is a curation of photos of writers/singers/actors/artists with interesting quotes they have said. It is wonderful entertainment and a very interesting resource. It has sent me off down various rabbit holes to find out more about a writer I had never heard of. For example there was a post about Edith Sitwell, a British poet whom I knew nothing about, who was quoted as saying “My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music and silence”. Now, thanks to this curated account, I am quite obsessed with Sitwell.
Another example of a valuable curated account is @fionabatemanart … She curates photos of some of her favourite pieces of art and I really value her eye. With so much out there, sifting through the noise and the volume is an art in itself. I feel like she does lots of the hard yards for me and through her feed, I get taken straight to the gold.
Another interesting example is the Lee Matthews instagram feed. Most of their posts are there to advertise and sell their clothes, but scattered throughout these posts are other “LM Inspiration” photos, photos they did not create in-house, but are of, say, beautify handmade Italian lamps, or a painting by Giorgio Morandi. They are not trying to sell these products. On one hand it is an appropriation of sorts – I do not know how Morandi would feel about his paintings being on their feed as part of the social media imagery of their brand – but as a consumer, I adore these elements. They are a curation of lovely, beautiful, interesting things and I am very glad they are sharing them with me. They always credit too, so that if you want to find out more about the art/object/maker in question, it is easy to follow the thread.
Me (Sophie Hansen)!
Q: How do you feel when people re-post your work, even if it’s captioned/credited?
Most of the time I’m completely fine with it! As Annabelle says above, it’s all about intent! If people are sharing a picture out of generosity and to spread the word about something I’ve done or are doing I’m just really grateful. But recently I’ve seen the odd photo from my Local is Lovely Instagram account pop up on the accounts of various businesses, and even though they put a photo credit on the bottom of the page, it can feel a bit iffy. I didn’t create that particular image to help promote that particular brand, whatever it might be! But it’s not worth getting worked up about, maybe the more eyes on your work the better, and also I am aware that once you post something on a platform like Instagram, you kind of set it loose into the world and can’t really control where it might end up.
Q: Do you think people should email first and ask for permission?
Well according Instagram’s terms and services we should all do this. I do a ‘Friday’s I’m in love’ post on @myopenkitchen and have just started emailing of DM’ing for permission first (this is also a lovely way to make contact with, and open up chats with people you may want to collaborate with going forward!) but generally I think the most important thing is that the intent is kosher and all the credits and tags are there. Sometimes it could just be a quick comment on a photo saying ‘I love this pic, do you mind if we share over on our feed?” Easy and better be safe than….account disabled hey!?
Q: Curating is creating. Or is it? What are your thoughts on IG feeds that are entirely or mostly a curated stream of other people’s pictures?
I have to say I only follow one or two ‘curated’ feeds but that is because I’m on Instagram to connect with and be inspired by real people and their worlds. I think there’s a room for these kinds of feeds if they have a really clear remit and are digging up ideas and images that I’d never have come across before. My two cents; It will come as no surprise to anyone who has done the Content Camp course or knows me at all, but I really really believe that (depending on the kind of feed you have*) it’s always better to post your own original work and show your personality and your space and why.
SOPHIE’S DISCLAIMER – I am not a lawyer and this is just general advice gleaned mostly from Instagram’s terms of service, my own research and the opinions of other Instagram users. If you would like official legal advice on any of the above please do seek it out!
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