The former judge on 'America's Next Top Model' decides to share 'a lot of self generated content' on her social media account instead of photos taken by other people following a lawsuit.
- Aug 12, 2023
AceShowbiz - Paulina Porizkova has been "terrified" to post on Instagram. The former judge on "America's Next Top Model" explained the reason why she feels wary of her social media content while recalling her unpleasant experience of getting sued over an "expensive mistake."
The 58-year-old supermodel made the revelation through an Instagram post she shared in early August. "One reason I've been posting a lot of self generated content lately is because I'm terrified," she spilled. "Of what, you may wonder? Of getting sued. Again."
Paulina went on to explain, "Here's the deal. Last year, while posting about the horrors in Ukraine, I used photos I found on IG to illustrate the story." She recalled, "Six months later, I was slapped with a lawsuit by a law firm on the behalf of one photographer. I had used his photo without his approval or without paying for usage."
"Until that point, I didn't even realize this was a thing- reposting photos from the internet being illegal. My images are used all the time," she further reflected. "And unless someone is trying to sell something with the images, I thought this was fine. It turns out it's not. There are law firms that do nothing but scour social media for dummies like myself who have enough followers to pay up."
"We settled out of court, because my best intentions notwithstanding, they were right. I did use an unauthorized photo- even if it was carrying on the message I thought the photographer was trying to make - that war is evil," the model recounted. "And boy, did that turn out to be an expensive mistake!"
"So, if you find my thread unbearable in its vanity and narcissism already, it's not gonna get better," Paulina reminded her fans. "You may want to unfollow now before I annoy you further. For those of you who don't mind- thank you for taking this journey called life with me. I'm so very grateful for you! #betweenjloandbettywhite #gettingsuedisexpensive."
Making a reference to a selfie she uploaded in the same post, the former wife of The Cars late frontman Ric Ocasek concluded, "Yes, this is what I look like in the morning. [a laughing face emoji]."
Paulina's post quickly garnered online responses. One of the comments read, "You don't need to change your content, you just need to make sure that you have obtained the copyright owner's permission before you use their work and pay any agreed royalties. Some photographers go to great effort and expense to take the photos they have and this should be respected."
