Before threatening a lawsuit over the use of your image you should probably check to make sure the picture is actually of you -- especially if you’re a hipster.
MIT Technology Review recently covered a study that looked into the “hipster effect.” According to the site’s editor-in-chief Gideon Lichfield, they immediately received an email after publishing their piece from an angry man claiming to be the article's pictured "hipster."
Tweet may have been deleted
Lichfield stated that the emailer claimed to be the nonconformist in the photo that MIT Technology Review chose to accompany the article. The hipster accused them of slander and using the image without his permission.
The outlet immediately contacted Getty Images, the stock photo company from which they licensed the picture. MIT Technology Review wanted to find out more about the release this man in the photo had to sign in order to appear on Getty's website before deciding whether or not to remove the photo.
After Getty’s legal team conducted a review, they found that the model in the photo did not share the same name as the person emailing MIT Technology Review.
Lichfield said that after hearing back from Getty, the emailer conceded that he had misidentified himself in the photo.
The study itself, which was conducted by mathematician Jonathan Touboul at Brandeis University, is actually quite interesting. In summary, Touboul reached the conclusion that when a large swath of people turn away from mainstream trends and fashion, eventually over time these individuals’ style choices will sync up.
Hilariously, this project's premise -- which took Touboul dozens of pages and incorporated an array of mathematical models and scenarios to lay out -- ended up being best proven through a real-life case of mistaken self-identity.
