Facebook's Instagram photo sharing service asked a federal court on
Wednesday to throw out a lawsuit filed against the popular app over
changes to its terms of service.
The proposed class action lawsuit was
filed in San Francisco in December by an Instagram user who leveled
breach of contract and other claims against the service.
Instagram
last year rolled out and then amended policy changes that incensed
users who feared the photo-sharing service would use their pictures
without compensation.
In Wednesday's filing, Instagram argues that
the plaintiff, Lucy Funes, has no right to bring her claim because she
could have deleted her Instagram account before the changes in the term
of service went into effect.
The changes in the terms of service
were first announced on December 17 and then altered a few days later
following widespread user complaints.
Funes sued the company on
December 21, nearly a month before the changes in the terms of service
went into effect on January 19, the court papers said.
She continued to use her account after that day, according to Instagram's filing.
Instagram also disputed Funes' claims that the new terms required her to transfer rights in her photos to the company.
Both the old service terms and the new ones "emphasize that owns the content she posts through Instagram's service," the filing said.
An attorney for the plaintiff was not immediately available for comment. Facebook declined to comment.
In
announcing the revised terms of service in December, Instagram also
announced a mandatory arbitration clause, forcing users to waive their
rights to participate in a class action lawsuit except under very
limited circumstances.
Following user backlash, Instagram founder
and CEO Kevin Systrom retreated partially, deleting language about
displaying photos without compensation.
However, Instagram kept
language that gave it the ability to place ads in conjunction with user
content, saying "that we may not always identify paid services,
sponsored content, or commercial communications as such." It also kept
the mandatory arbitration clause.
Instagram, which allows people
to add filters and effects to photos and share them easily on the
Internet, was acquired by Facebook in 2012 for $715 million.
The
civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California,
is Lucy Funes, individually and on behalf of all others similarly
situated vs. Instagram Inc., 12-cv-6482.
© Thomson Reuters 2013