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Guitarist Brian May posts fan photo to Instagram, gets banned; bashes the fan

by 92 Comments

Queen guitarist Brian May recently faced an Instagram ban after he posted someone else’s image without the permission or credits. The ban seems to have made him pretty upset, so once his account was back – he bashed the photographer who took the photo.

According to May, the photographer named Barbara Kremer acted “rude” and “unfriendly” for reporting him to Instagram. What’s more, he even writes that he’ll be “tempted to have [her] thrown out” if she attends one of his concerts in future.

As May writes in his Instagram post, he is “usually very careful to credit anyone” if he posts their photos. But somehow, this time, he “must have forgotten.” He believes the photographer was supposed to address him directly and ask him to credit the photo, instead of reporting him to Instagram. Also, he complains about 45 minutes of his time that he lost while dealing with the issue.

Well this is what I woke up to. How RUDE ! I'm usually very careful to credit anyone whose photos I post – but in this case, at the end of the day, I must have forgotten. So, rather than write to me and say "dear Brian- you seem to have forgotten to credit me on this picture", this person – Barbara Kremer is her name – reported me to Instagram and they not only took the picture down but disabled my whole account until I'd dealt with the issue – which took about 45 minutes of my time that I could not afford because the link refused to work on my phone. What an incredibly unfriendly act from you, Barbara ! You not only took my picture and are evidently exploiting my image, and making money off me without so much as a 'by your leave' – but you actually stop me using a picture of myself ! What a crazy world we live in these days. All I can say is that if you feel you were 'violated', I feel pretty violated myself. To the point where If I ever discover that you are at one of our concerts in future, look out, because, logically, I will be tempted to have you thrown out. Well, Good Morning !!! Bri

A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on

As the text goes on, the famous guitar player seems to be slowly becoming more and more furious. He blames the photographer for “exploiting his image” to make money and says he feels “violated” in this situation. He ends the rant by stating that he’ll be tempted to throw Barbara out if he discovers she is in some of his future concerts.

Now, I partially agree with Mr. May. I believe the photographer should have approached him directly before reporting him, and ask that he either credits her or takes the photo down. At least that’s what I would do rather going straight to reporting someone.

But, no matter how much I love Queen and Brian May’s guitar playing skills, I generally tend to agree with the photographer here. In case she had a press pass, she didn’t need the permission from him to take his photos. Even if she was just in the audience, if the ticket doesn’t explicitly say taking photos is forbidden, she has the right to take them. At least that’s the way things work here, and if the law is different where you’re from, then disregard this.

But still, there’s another thing – no matter if you are in the photo or not, you don’t have the right to use someone else’s photos without their permission. So, Mr. May should have approached the photographer and ask her if he could post the photo on his Instagram. I don’t think “I forgot” would be a valid excuse to use a Queen song in a video without giving them credits. Again, no matter how big of a fan I am, I think the rules should be the same for everyone. Even if you’re Brian May.

[via BBC; Cover image credits See Li (modified)]

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  • Hold on a minute. We seem to be twisting up cordialities here. Press pass or not, credit or not, it’s Brian May on the picture and this could be anybody. The minute someone is doing the pleasantry of posing for your picture, particularly someone who’s been around the block, even if you deserve credit, the very least you can do is write him on his Instagram to add the name – IF it’s even bothering about that. I mean, Brian May just posed for this Barbara woman. That’s a nice notch to have. Now, does she want to be Miss Uptight Morality? Or does she want promotion out of this? Because even if she does and acted this way, CONGRATULATIONS, Barbara. You are now the bitch photographer who out of dismissing cordiality yourself, got your name out there for the worst possible reasons. Guess what’s going to happen now, when you try to shoot other artists, Barbara? “Are you the photographer that pissed off Brian May? Yeah, I’m sorry, we’re not having you here. Please leave”. Way to go!

    Be human. Be respectful. Try to sort your stuff out before you make anyone mad. It WILL come back to bite you.

    • Hmmm – if you use a Queen song for backgroundmusic of your public website and Brian May gets knowledge about it. What do you expect? A nice e-mail from him, asking you to credit Queen as artists of your backgroundmusic or a harsh letter from a lawyer who wants tons of money from you?

      • Mary Reiley

        Barbara is not Queen. And being a decent person shouldn’t need qualifications/qualifiers. “They would so I should” is bad business.

        • Jeff

          Yes, I’m sure it’s super easy to get in touch with a super famous Queen guitarist. Like you said, being a “decent person” shouldn’t need qualifiers. So maybe obeying copyright (when he himself has sued people for it) is what he should be doing.

    • Tim Brakemeier That is not the point. The point here is that he was nice enough to do her the FAVOR of having his picture taken by this Barbara. Should he have included her name in the post? Absolutely. But the minute she overlooks that it just may have been a lapse on his part and decides to dismiss his being cordial to her to then bite him in the ass, that’s when things went south. That’s what happens when you stop being a person and start behaving like you’re entitled to something. Any photographer worth his or her salt knows for a fact that a good relationship with your clients / subjects is paramount. She burnt that bridge on her own.

      • Mike S

        Do you honestly think that’s how it works in the real world? That the band sees it as doing photographers a “favor” by allowing them to take photos? You don’t think bands and artists are thrilled at raking in the free – yes, free, as they rarely ever pay for concert photography! – publicity that comes from this stuff?

        This has to be the most absurd concept I’ve seen on the topic. And on top of that, it STILL illegal. The photographer owns the photo, not the subject of the photo. Period. That’s actually settled law and recognized most places in the world as part of international copyright law. If the band allows cameras in during the performance, then they accept this (see the recent blow-up over A Perfect Circle and their ban on photography if you want the other side of the coin). “Allowing” someone to take your photo doesn’t imbue you with magical legal rights.

    • Actually, that’s exactly the point. 🙂

    • John Aldred Whatever IP may be, you’re always supposed to notifiy the person or entity first and try to settle it peacefully. In the case of Brian May where he actually seems reachable via Instagram, a friendly text and a few days wait can’t hurt. What’s this necessity of going after someone’s jugular like that, particularly when the guy GAVE her his image?

    • Supposed to? According to whom? The guy didn’t give her anything.

    • John Aldred According to decency. According to the time, however little it was, he took to allow her that oportunity. There would be no picture without his permission. According to common sense.

    • According to decency, you license photographs you wish to use for your own promotion.

    • John Aldred We can go around in circles on this. Nothing replaces a simple message stating “Hey, you seem to have forgotten about me. Could you please credit me for this photo? Thank you in advance”. Easy.

    • You seem to be ignoring a simple legal fact, though. A credit does not constitute permission.

    • John Aldred It’s his face on there. He has more right over how it’s used than she does.

    • By the way, there’s something called “risk and reward”. Adding to my point above, there’s the fact that the only fame she got out of this was the bad kind. Is it worth it? I don’t think so.

    • Alexandre Bettencourt you need to read up basic IP law. You just show your lack of understaning of the law. Please do your self a favour.

    • Um, if you look at the photo in the article, it was at a concert. He did not take the time to pose for her. There was no “favor”, as you say. While I agree she should have tried to reach out to him first, his rant was over reactive for a mistake that he supposedly made. Legally, his face or not, copyright of said photograph belongs to the photographer, not the subject.

    • Christi Bushby Well, even worse. Now she’s just taking advantage of him. And here I thought she was in the wrong already! Because by the way, any concert that you attend, the artists get to own their own likeness in that performance, no one else. Just like they can take down videos of their performance if they wish. So, um, she shot herself in the foot twice.

      • Jeff

        That’s not the way it works.

    • Alexandre Bettencourt not according to US copyright law. Period— she owns that image. He used it without her permission. He was on stage in a concert with no reasonable expectation of privacy. He wasn’t doing her a favor by posing— he was performing. He not only broke the law by violating her copyright— he then threw a tantrum about getting caught. And your statement of her taking advantage of him is laughable. He took advantage of her work. Your opinion can be whatever you like, but the law is clear and he broke it. Copyright infringement is theft. Remember NAPSTER? Yeah— the music industry got pissed that everyone was sharing their work for free. He certainly doesn’t accept infringement on his copyrighted material.

      • David Beeken

        The Photographer has missed some great future opportunities on this one! What a shame!

    • Amanda McClure Using someone else’s music has NOTHING to do with taking someone’s picture. You don’t compose music off of anyone. It’s your brainchild, yours to use and control however you see fit where applicable by law. When you take someone’s picture, the person who was photographed evidently has some moral right to it. It’s HIM on the shot. The picture doesn’t materialize on its own. So what can be reasonable is that he reposts it wherever he pleases, as he, by simple birthright, owns his own likeness. You can’t go to a Queen concert, take a picture of a band member and then get angry when he, as a performer, shares it with the world. Yes, she took advantage of that oportunity. The only thing that was bothering her is that he didn’t give her credit. How screwed up is that?

      • ‘P-villeGuy

        Brian May had no “moral right” to a photograph someone else took anymore than medieval kings had a “divine right” to rule! There’s no “birthright” that automatically gives you part ownership of someone else’s photograph of you! Thinking you do and reposting it as you please will end up with you in court and being forced to pay a hefty penalty. And you most certainly can go to a Queen concert and take as many photographs as you want and sell them or post them anywhere, as long as there is no expressed limitation against photography, and anyone posting them without your permission will be violating copyright law and be subject to penalties.

      • Ahmet

        Yeah, like Brian May’s guitar maker, the designer of the amplifier, the cable makers, the… Oh, come on!
        On the other hand, I agree with you that a warning shot first, then report. The neighbour is nosy, first I knock on the door, not calling the police right away.

        • Claire D. Milford

          Don’t let the Turkeys get you down.

      • Jeff

        Alexandre, you are 100% in the wrong. You’re obviously not American but over here, the photographer has the rights, not the person in the photo. “Birthright.” Haha! Are we back in medieval Britain?

    • Motti Bembaron

      Well said! Too much self righteous, morally uptight out there. She missed it big time.

    • Alexandre Bettencourt copyright law concerning photography is clear. You don’t have to like it but it is what it is. It’s her image. Does not matter if it’s his likeness. You go to a portrait studio- that photographer OWNS the images of you the very second they are taken. It doesn’t matter that you paid to have them done. It’s copyright law. He’s mad that she didn’t contact him first before contacting IG when if he would have ASKED HER FOR PERMISSION— she likely would have granted it. By law, she could sue him for compensation but all she asked was credit. And photography is a skill, it’s an art. What can be done with a camera in the right hands is completely different than what can be done in auto mode as a snapshot. Concert photography is a challenging genre. He saw the image and liked it enough to share it so clearly it’s a good image—- he could have and should have asked for permission to use it. Like it or not—- that is how copyright law works.

      • Jeff

        Could you link to the photographer or the image? I’m unable to find either.

    • Gary Pageau

      True, it was not handled well, but the fact is, Barbara owns the right to image, not Brian May. That is how copyrights work. As the artist, she gets to determine how it’s used. Many photographers make their images available for free for promotional purposes, but that should be their choice.

      Photographers who allow their work to be used without their permission aren’t working photographers very long.

      • Luca De Nardi

        This is totally true. As someone else said, since it wasn’t forbidden (it wasn’t, was it?) to take photos during the event, she had all the reasons to take the photo, hence she has copyrights of it.

    • Alexandre Bettencourt “John Aldred It’s his face on there. He has more right over how it’s used than she does.”
      No! You are wrong! If you were right, what do you think D.Trump would do with all the pics showing him in a way he don´t like. In Germany we got the term “person of history”. Brian May is, no doubt about that, a person of history. You got a lot of advatages if you are part of that group – and some disadvantages too. The way pics of you are handled is one of this disadvantages.

    • Sascha Rheker Speaking of argumentation, you’re twisting mine. Where do
      I state that a photographer’s work is free? I don’t. And in case you don’t know, your likeness is protected by law. At least in Europe it is. That too, is Copyright, which is incredibly misunderstood. Trump can’t control his image on the news, but he could control it in other areas if the had the manpower. It’s just a pointless pursuit. And therein lies the problem that still affects photographers, models, and clients: few people outside of lawyers understand how things work. This discussion is evidence of that. It’s a confusing topic and no one can say with a 100% certainty that something works this way or the other, because there are many gray areas in between. The only certainty I have is if you’re taking a shot of some musician and using his performance for your own purposes, don’t go bitch about it if he reposts your shot. Quoting Brian May: “That’s just RUDE”.

    • Yes, DIYPhotography…?

    • David Beeken

      Bravo well put!

  • Brian May may has different rules in terms of copyright?
    (I was waiting 11 years for a chance to use „may may“ in one line)

    • 11 years of waiting and you still cocked it up…

    • Wait until you hear my „it’s only allowed between April and June“-joke!

    • May be. May be not.

  • And why do you start a sentence with a small letter???

  • I must say sorry to Mr. Sentence as I was rude to it. However the site still use a small m to mention Dr. Brian May. Please correct it! Give more respect to a legend! 😉

  • Instagram bans people left, right and center. They should fix their algorithm.

  • Good luck getting another press pass lol

  • If she didn’t want him or anybody else to post this photo, she shouldn’t have shared it. Besides, she couldn’t use it herself anyway without his model release. That said I’m surprised he was pissed so much and went on a rant. I guess it was a bad day. People fly off the handle once in a while. As far as the girl, she must be really dumb to complain about this crap

    • Jeffrey Wright

      It’s a ridiculous argument to say you shouldn’t ever share work unless you’re okay having it stolen. You don’t give up your rights simply by sharing it. Also, you don’t need a release to take someone’s picture and you don’t need one to use that picture either, at least in the USA. The way in which it’s used (promotional use, educational use, journalism, commercial, etc.) is what determines the need for a release. It’s always recommended you obtain one of course, if for no other reason than having it increases it’s commercial viability.

    • Not true. She can use it. He was in a public place with no reasonable expectation of privacy. That is pretty much how the paparazzi gets away with taking photos of celebs all of the time.

  • Huge Dom

    Don’t think we are going the full story here… Don’t most concerts these days have a no DSLR, removable lens camera photography rule or something ??

    • Jeff

      That’s not the issue here. If it was, we’d be seeing posts from the venue about how terrible it is all these rogue photographers profiting from all these surreptitious photos they keep taking.
      Hint: it’s not a problem.

  • I agree she should have contacted him first. Also if you don’t want your photos shared or even stolen don’t post them on social media where it happens every single day

    • Where you get the idea that someone who plays 200 show/year and other personal appearances will have the time to respond to someone’s email. There’s a good chance one of his handler will deal with the issue. Also, why didn’t Mr. May and his people contacted the photographer 1st? They could avoid this situation by asking who own the photo and how to reach them to use it with their permission instead of making an assumption.

      https://youtu.be/Nl_O2oP0ISU

  • Dumb as hell.. surely the photographer knows the photo is worthless with out him in it. If i took a photo of someone as famous as him and they reshared it my day week and month would be made.

    • The problem is he did not reshare it
      A reshare would mean a link to the original post.

      • Mary Reiley

        Why do you think a 60 year old musician knows about resharing apps? 😂 He’s probably doing the best he can already.

    • He might have forgotten that…

  • You should always credit a photographer, however people make mistakes. I think it may have been a missed opportunity to contact him and maybe start a conversation about shooting more photos. This is how projects get started sometimes…

    • That are those naive dreams, that the person who just stole your pictures could be such a great opportunity to…

      Well, no they are not. Because people who treat photographers fair start a conversation before they use photos, and they offer pay…

    • Sascha Rheker I beg to differ. Call me naive but stranger thing have happened.

  • How many times have we seen a photographer ask for credit only to be dragged around by a powerful celebrity? This should happen to every famous person who posts an uncredited photo. End of story.

  • Alegra Starks

    If someone used my photographs without crediting me, I would be upset, too; but in this case, the picture is of himself, so logically, if he has to ask to use a picture of himself on his own social media, then she should have asked him if it was OK to use him as the subject of a photo. I don’t care if she had a press pass or not–if Brian May can’t use a photo of HIMSELF on his own social media without asking the permission of the photographer, then SHE shouldn’t be allowed to use it in her portfolio, on her website, or in any other way that she would profit from it. Moreover, if she isn’t going to allow the subjects of her photographs to use said photographs for their own personal enjoyment, then she should, in turn, have to get explicitly written permission from every subject of every photograph before she takes it. After all, the subjects’ faces belong to them, not her, so she shouldn’t be stealing people’s faces to build her portfolio. Fair is fair.

    • Gary Pageau

      That’s actually the opposite of how copyright works. You don’t need permission to take someone’s photo in a public place without a reasonable expectation of privacy. Now, it may be rude, etc., but street photographers have been doing it for decades.

    • Jeff

      Alegra, you need to learn how copyright works, specifically to photography. You are 100% in the wrong. And now the entire internet knows.

  • We only have one side of the story. There hasn’t been a confirmation by the photographer whether or not she tried to contact him regarding the photo. Also we don’t know if she had permission of the venue when she took the photo. There’s a lot of people getting angry or upset without having all the facts. Calm down.

  • One, pretty sure she didn’t have a press pass considering in the photo it looks like she’s in the audience. Two, as a photographer, this is why I compress and watermark my photos. Three, I would be thrilled if he shared it! Four, with all of he fake accounts out there, maybe she didn’t realize it was actually Brian… As someone else said, we don’t know the whole story.

    • “I would be thrilled if he shared it”

      That is your personal freedom, there might be even people who consider themselves professional photographers who are thrilled if a costumer does not pay his bills.

      As far as I know, he did not share it. He postet it, meaning he even granted Instagram a licence for the picture.

    • Wow. No real need for the snarky comment after telling me it’s my personal freedom. I never said they, or anyone else, should feel the same way… As I stated, both made mistakes, and we don’t know the whole story… I am a professional photographer, but if I’m at a concert, shooting for personal reasons, yes, I’d be thrilled if the artist liked it enough to share it, as I watermark it, and compress it.. I said nothing about them taking it and posting it. Also, I don’t post on Instagram after hearing about the “artist” that took others photos and sold them in a gallery . Brian didn’t make any money off of sharing the photo, just saying. If someone took my photo and made money off of it, then yes, I’d be mad. So I’m careful of what and how I share my photos. I also give musicians permissions to share, as long as I have photo credit. And yes, that’s my choice. I’m not saying it something everyone else should do.

  • There is a partnership here, the photog needs Brian May more than Brian May needs the photog. So you treat the situation as such, and request that he take it down or credit you. This is why some bands have stupid crazy restrictions on photographers.

  • Lányi it was a typo, there was no intention of disrespect whatsoever. It’s corrected. 🙂

  • Most photographers I’ve met have tended to be self absorbed and confrontational. All she had to do was send a simple message asking to be credited for her work. Having someone banned on Instagram is just spiteful and designed to embarrass. If she turned up at one of my gigs, I’d tell her to fuck off.

    • Jeff

      A simple message to a famous guitarist that receives thousands of messages a day. Wow please, grace us with more of your wisdom Bruce.

  • Mary Reiley

    I think Brian is in the right. It’s a photo of him. All she had to do was say “hey psst”. If you can’t have any freedoms or leeways over images of yourself, photos you didn’t even sign a contract to have taken, and the person is a complete ass about it (by not being a human and clicking the message button), this whole photography thing is bunk. I’m still of the mind that no photos belongs to you and unless you state and create the entire scene yourself, you’re not even the artist, just the observer. I can’t stand pretentious and self-righteousness, maybe why I don’t come to photography blogs anymore.

    • Gary Pageau

      It’s not just photography; it’s copyright. Copyright protects all artist – writers, composers, musicians, painters and, yes, photographers – from having their work used without their permission. Yes, Barbara handled it wrong; my guess is she is not that experienced and hasn’t learned how to work with artists.

      The subject of a photo has no rights to the image – unless agreed upon advance – just as the subject of a news article has no rights to the article. It’s the same thing.

      • Mary Reiley

        “yes, even photographers”, a little snarky don’t you think? What’s right is often beyond what is the law, and being a decent person often means not following rules to a t. Handling it wrong is an understatement. She makes all photographers look like total a-holes.

        • Jeff

          By your logic, YOU are making all internet commentators look like total a-holes, because you are 100% in the wrong. “What’s right” is what Barbara did, not Brian. You don’t get to steal other’s work then claim they are in the wrong. When people pirated his music, do you think he sent nicely worded messages to them? SPOILER ALERT: He took the “indecent” route and sued then. Were you defending the pirates back then?

        • Gary Pageau

          Why is it “right” for a millionaire musician to use his fame and his following to bully a photographer to give up the rights to her product? What Brian May did wasn’t “decent.”

  • Who is Brian May

  • So she is an idiot who thinks she is Mrs.Morality uprightery. Next one please

  • Well she’s just shot herself in the foot there. Instead of seeing g it as a mistake she’s obviously flew off the handle. Brain may is a clever guy, and Com Es across as having good morals, a polite message was probably ly all it needed. Lessons to be learnt here, know when and when not to be a twat.

    • Jeff

      A polite message. Yeah, I casually get in touch with famous guitarists all the time. They always read my messages and almost respond appropriately. Every. Time. /s

  • ‘P-villeGuy

    I’m really shocked at the number of people that have no clue! A photograph is the intellectual property of the photographer, not the person in the photograph. Being in a photograph doesn’t entitle you to any compensation, nor does it give you the right to use it, unless you have a pre-arranged agreement with the photographer, no matter how much of a celebrity you are!

  • Sean Barnes

    Dude should be happy that anybody takes pics of his irrelevant ass! Queen died with Freddie and every time these clowns go out on tour as Queen they just chip away at their own dwindling legacy

  • Jeffrey Friedl

    The author of this article perpetuates the false belief that “credit” is in any way a substitute for “permission”. It’s not. PERMISSION is required first, period.

  • Deruta

    She did everything right, I can’t believe how many people are ignoring the law here in the comment section and everwhere else. You don’t need to ask people to credit you if they steal your art. And yes photography is art as well. Be proud as photographers and don’t think you are less than other artists just because a stupid slogen like “anyone can hold a camera”. It takes years to learn everything and it never stops. I am sorry that it will backfire on her due to his popularity boost (because popular people are always right yeah…).
    Instead of contacting instagram I think she should have been more radical and directly get in contact with a lawyer. Actually we all should do something like this when some unjustice is happen to us like that. She is the owner of the photos. Its a law deal with it! Thats what the music industy is doing as well. Its theft. Stop reposting stuff other people made.

  • CanonMinolta

    Nice to see an online entity standing up for what is right
    Photos belong to the person who took them
    Applause to Instagram for doing what they did
    The rich and famous often think they can do anything they want
    Even if it’s against a policy, a law, or common decency

    The “famous” guitarist had no right to use someone’s photo without permission, much less without credit
    What would happen if you used one of his songs without permission or credit?
    Because this made the news (although not big time news) maybe others will learn something

  • CanonMinolta

    Photos belong to the person who took them
    Applause to Instagram for doing what they did

    Wonder what the this guy would do if someone used one of his songs without permission (or credit)

  • Bambang Eyegift

    It’s weird someone uploads his own image taken by a photographer, and then the photographer causes him trouble…. whatever the copyright law says.

  • Scythe

    Were there a model release taken by Barbara ?

  • Timothyf7

    More proof that fame and talent do not necessarily equate to intelligence (savant maybe?).

  • Charles Landrum

    She should have not done Brian May like that . She is only hurting her own reputarion not His. His fans will be loyal no matter what.

  • Art Meripol

    “which took about 45 minutes of my time that I could not afford”…..but if he’d taken five minutes to ask first he could have saved himself 40 minutes.

  • newmediabranding

    Credit, she should have registered her work, preferably before publication, and sue Mr. May for copyright infringement. You can’t pay your mortgage with “photo credits”.

  • Renlish

    To be fair to the photographer, how many artists maintain their own social media and not have their people do it for them? How many celeb accounts are legit? My reaction would be the same. Some takes my stuff, I report it as stolen. ASK before you use, then there’s no chance of “forgetting” to credit. And please, photographers buy or apply for their press passes on the understanding that their work is commercial. May is acting like a brat because someone is protecting their livelihood.

  • IAM_THE_KGB

    Mr. “I’m a huge star dammit” May needs to try and remember the time when his ego wasn’t so huge and he was just Brian May, a guy with a guitar.

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