Explained | Controversy around Humans of Bombay

Mumbai-based storytelling platform 'Humans of Bombay' has come under harsh criticism for a lawsuit it filed against 'People of India', accusing it of violating its copyright. 

The 'Humans of New York' founder Brandon Stanton weighed in on the copyright infringement conflict between 'Humans of Bombay' and 'People of India', expressing his displeasure with the lawsuit filed by the former. This sparked a discussion on social media about the issue.

What started the issue? 

The latest row erupted when 'Humans of Bombay' filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court seeking damages and an injunction to prevent People of India from using its content. On September 18, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to 'People of India', expressing concern over the allegations. 

However, the case was not well received by Brandon Stanton, the creator of  ‘Humans of New York,’  who criticised 'Humans of Bombay' for the legal action and charged them with stealing his own format. 

“I’ve stayed quiet on the appropriation of my work because I think @HumansOfBombay shares important stories, even if they’ve monetised far past anything I’d feel comfortable doing on Humans of New York. But you can’t be suing people for what I’ve forgiven you for,” he wrote on  X(formerly Twitter) post.

Stanton also got support from social media users who criticised Karishma Mehta, founder of 'Humans of Bombay', for stealing his format and making money off of it.

Since Brandon Stanton shared his views, netizens have reacted strongly towards 'Humans of Bombay' and its founder Karishma Mehta for their hypocrisy. Twitter and Instagram were loaded with posts criticising Humans of Bombay. 

An old video of Karishma Mehta where she describes the idea of 'Humans of Bombay' came out of the blue is also doing rounds on social media. People have reacted to the video in the same manner and criticised the founder.  

Reaction of Humans of Bombay 

On September 23, 'Humans of Bombay' published an open letter on their X (formerly Twitter) handle in response to Stanton's accusations.

In the letter, Humans of Bombay expressed "shock" at the "cryptic assault on our efforts to protect our intellectual property is made in this manner, especially without understanding the background of the case.”

“We believe in the honourable court of India and will request patience for the law to take its own course after hearing all facts of the matter.” read the letter posted by 'Humans of Bombay'. 

In a follow-up post, 'Humans of Bombay' expressed gratitude to Stanton and 'Humans of New York' for pioneering the unique storytelling format.

“ We are grateful to Humans of New York and Brandon for starting this storytelling movement. The suit is related to the IP in our posts and not about storytelling at all. We tried to address the issue amicably before approaching the court, as we believe in protecting our team’s hard work” it read.