'Humans of Bombay' faces heat after 'Humans of New York' founder's post. All about the row

"Humans of New York" founder Brandon Stanton reacted to the "Humans of Bombay" case against another page.

“Humans of Bombay”, a popular photo-based storytelling platform, has been accused by the founder of “Human of New York” of copying its format of storytelling after the former sued another Indian platform for alleged copyright infringement. The row has been one of the biggest talking points on the internet over the weekend with “Humans of Bombay” hitting back at Brandon Stanton, saying his remarks were a “cryptic assault” on their efforts to protect their intellectual property.

“Humans of Bombay” sues “People of India”

It all began with “Humans of Bombay” approaching the Delhi High Court this month, seeking an injunction to prevent “People of India”, an Instagram-based storytelling platform, from using the former’s content. “Humans of Bombay” pointed out a particular story, alleging that “People of India” is an identical portal having identical content as that of “Humans of Bombay”.

“Humans of Bombay” said it engages in substantial research and approaches people who would be interested in sharing their stories. These stories are then converted into audio-video works and published on the various platforms of “Humans of Bombay”.

Last Wednesday, the Delhi High Court issued summons to “People of India” based on the lawsuit.

“Humans of New York” vs “Humans of Bombay”

On Saturday, Brandon Stanton, the creator of “Humans of New York”, took to X (formerly X), reacting to the lawsuit by “Humans of Bombay”.

“I've stayed quiet on the appropriation of my work because I think @HumansOfBombay shares important stories, even if they've monetized far past anything I'd feel comfortable doing on HONY. But you can't be suing people for what I've forgiven you for,” Stanton wrote.

I've stayed quiet on the appropriation of my work because I think @HumansOfBombay shares important stories, even if they've monetized far past anything I'd feel comfortable doing on HONY. But you can't be suing people for what I've forgiven you for. https://t.co/0jZM05YyTt

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— Brandon Stanton (@humansofny) September 23, 2023

In no time, “Humans of Bombay” founder Karishma Mehta began facing a huge backlash on social media, with Indian users accusing her of copying the “Humans of New York” format and in turn, suing another Indian platform over copyrights.

"Humans of Bombay" hits back

The Mumbai-headquartered company issued an open letter to Stanton, calling it a “cryptic assault on our efforts to protect our intellectual property”. It further clarified on the issue, sharing details of the lawsuit.

pic.twitter.com/JcgZOc8A6g

— Humans Of Bombay (@HumansOfBombay) September 23, 2023

“We are grateful to HONY (‘Humans of New York’) and Brandon for starting this storytelling movement. The suit is related to the IP in our posts & 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,” Humans of Bombay wrote on X.

We are grateful to HONY & Brandon for starting this storytelling movement.

The suit is related to the IP in our posts & 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.

PFA

— Humans Of Bombay (@HumansOfBombay) September 24, 2023

Writer and photographer Karishma Mehta started “Humans of Bombay” in 2014 as a Facebook page. On Instagram, the brand has 2.7 million followers and describes itself as a platform “cataloging the beat of humanity... one story at a time!”

“Humans of New York”, with 12.8 million Instagram followers, identifies itself as a platform telling the story of “New York City, one story at a time”.