*truth, not trust. Trust was what was broken. UK tabloids and NY Post pay for stories.

Mike… please.
She knew what she was doing, she was more than happy to do press and interviews around this whole thing. What you are being told is her “aliby” now in an attempt to save her career. A lawsuit will probably root out of the trust of the matter.

Sure, Instagram can grant permission to use the photos. They can also withhold permission. You don’t need anyone’s permission to use public domain material.

If Hollywood wanted to make a movie with these pictures, I suspect Instagram would demand payment.

And that’s the problem, because granting Instagram a license to use the photos themselves is reasonable and necessary, giving them permission to sell license is not. I avoid sites with those types of terms.

you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the Content that you post on or through the Service

* that means instagram can give that content to anyone they want for any reason they want without paying you.

Nothing in Instagram’s Terms of Use releases photos to the public domain. “Instagram does not claim ownership of any Content that you post on or through the Service. Instead, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the Content that you post on or through the Service…”

Just like every other site in the world, you keep your copyright and grant a license to the site. The only people who claim that everything on the Internet is public domain are idiots and thieves.