‘Got death and rape threats’: Humans of Bombay founder on public backlash

Karishma Mehta, founder and CEO of 'Humans of Bombay'. Image credit: Karishma Mehta, Humans of Bombay/Instagram, Facebook)

Humans of Bombay founder and CEO Karishma Mehta on Wednesday offered a clarification of the storytelling platform's row with People of India after the Delhi High Court put an end to the copyright infringement case when both platforms agreed not to use each other's content.

Taking to social media, Mehta wrote that although Humans of Bombay was inspired by Humans of New York, their case against People of India was one of "substantial imitation".

"Our legal case, however, was not about inspiration, but in fact, about -- as the Delhi High Court termed it -- 'substantial imitation'," the founder and CEO wrote. "If there had not been explicit plagiarism at play (where the exact content shot, written and created by us was published on another creator's page,) the Indian courts would not have been so willing to listen, let alone issue summons to the party in question."

Karishma Mehta added they had reported the plagiarism to Meta following which 16 of their posts were taken down from the platform, but it didn't stop the plagiarism "even after we tried to resolve the matter amicably". "We were left with no option but to lean on legal counsel," she said.

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Mehta also chose to speak about the backlash she and her company received for running Humans of Bombay as a business. Claiming that the business part of the storytelling platform was never hidden, Mehta said, "While some choose to monetise stories through mediums like books and subscription platforms, we have chosen to do it primarily through meaningful campaigns with partner brands."

She added that she would continue to learn from her mistakes but also hit out at trolls who bullied her and her team while sending rape and death threats. "While we did not expect to be vilified to this extent, it will not deter us from continuing to tell important stories that change the narrative, and sometimes, even change lives," Mehta said.

 Read more: Humans of Bombay vs People of India: No monopoly in running storytelling platforms, says Delhi HC