Humans of New York founder Brandon Stanton takes dig at Humans of Bombay for using art ‘with profit motive’

Stanton said he cannot provide an informed opinion on the intricacies of copyright law, but said he does have an opinion on what it means to be an artist. “Beautiful art can make money, there is nothing wrong with that. But when art begins with a profit motive, it ceases to become art. And it becomes a product,” he wrote.

He then added that he welcomes anyone who is using the “Humans of” concept to express something true and beautiful about their community but he doesn’t identify with anyone “who is using it for the sake of creating a certain lifestyle for themselves”.

Was just asked for comment by The Washington Post regarding a certain court case involving my work, but which thankfully doesn’t involve me. I thought it would be worthwhile to share the statement here. For an example of a true artist who has done beautiful things with the… pic.twitter.com/y6Xvz8EGSx

— Brandon Stanton (@humansofny) September 26, 2023

“You are humanity personified, Brandon. The respect for you has only gone few notches above. The biggest earning of our lifetime is love and respect of people. and you are a billionaire in those terms,” a user commented.

“Humans of Bombay is a profitable entity – based on the financials and filings that have been put out in the public domain now. In hindsight, a lot of posts that I had “liked”, may just have one-sided anecdotes,” said another.

Earlier, Stanton had responded to a media report about the Delhi High Court summoning POI in the lawsuit filed by HOB and 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.”

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

— Brandon Stanton (@humansofny) September 23, 2023

In a follow-up tweet, he wrote that he has “always loved” Humans of Amsterdam run by Debra Barraud because it “has stayed so true to the art, and has never viewed the stories that she shares as the “front end” of a business”.