Humans of Bombay vs Humans of New York: Why HONY founder Brandon Stanton is angry with HOB
HONY founder Brandon Stanton is angry with India-based HOB. Learn what it's all about in the story ahead.
Humans of New York founder Brandon Stanton recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his opinion on India-based storytelling company Humans of Bombay.
The 39-year-old blogger expressed his disappointment at the company filing a lawsuit against another storytelling platform, while they themselves copied his initiative.
"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," posted the American blogger.
Humans of Bombay is an Indian storytelling platform based on the same niche as Humans of New York. The platform was started as a Facebook Page in 2014 by founder Karishma Mehta and has gained huge popularity and fanbase over the years.
The platform recently filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against an online storytelling portal 'People of India' for copyright infringement which did not sit well with Brandon.
According to him, HOB can not sue people for doing something that he forgave them for i.e. copying Humans of New York.
Interestingly, HOB did not sit down on the conversation and posted an open letter reply to Brandon on X (Formerly Twitter)
People all around the world have been reacting to Brandon's post and many of the opinions are not in favour of the move made by HOB.
“HoB is not an appropriation but actually an insult to your work. It’s embarrassing that it exists and this action of their founder to sue someone else for the same stuff they’re doing reeks of insecurity,” replied a user to Brandon's post.
Many have been tagging the HOB owner and asking her to drop the lawsuit, agreeing that she can not sue someone for what she herself has done.
“this is not done. You must drop the lawsuit. If you've taken inspiration from Humans Of New York and they have been kind, you must afford the same liberty to others.”
"HOB is a subpar imitation of a brilliant HONY. It's disheartening to witness such blatant theft of a brand and its mission, and turn it into a personal PR machine and for-profit business, driven by individuals seeking to monetise others' stories.
Drop the lawsuit!"
