Janet Jackson has told her team to “change their approach” to social media following an outcry from fans when some had their Instagram accounts closed after posting video from her live shows.
Fans sharing footage from her Unbreakable tour received emails telling them they were infringing copyright, and some had their accounts deleted. Instagram said the deletions were the result of a bug, though it said repeat infringers would have their accounts shut down.
Jackson now says she is not opposed to short snippets, only longer videos. In a Twitter statement, she said: “I want you to know that I enjoy watching the short clips of how you are Burning It Up at the Unbreakable shows. Please keep posting them,” she wrote. “My team is passionate about protecting the intellectual property we are creating for the tour and possible future projects. It was never their intention, acting on my behalf, to have social media accounts removed. Permitting the use of long clips does present a contractual problem for these projects. I hope you understand. I trust the fans will use their short recordings for their own memories and to share on their social media networks of choice.”
She added: “I have asked my team to change their approach and allow you to engage socially with these videos.”
Instagram told Billboard that while it is legally required to act on valid reports of intellectual property infringement, this instance was caused by a bug that led to the removal of accounts that should not have been removed. “We have fixed the bug and are in the process of restoring the impacted accounts,” the company said.
