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 levelled 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 17 December and then altered a few days later following widespread user complaints. Funes sued the company on 21 December, nearly a month before the changes in the terms of service went into effect on 19 January, 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 "emphasise that she 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 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.
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