Joan Responds To Photo Theft Claims

 found herself this week embroiled in an almost identical Instagram battle to her friend Karlie Kloss, when she reportedly posted a picture taken by a photography student on her Instagram page without crediting it. The picture, which has since been removed, was replaced with an image of a middle finger join-the-dots and a caption expressing Smalls' dismay that the situation had escalated so quickly. She later deleted this post as well.

The photographer responsible for the original deleted image of Smalls, Boston-based photography student Claire Roche, took the image of her at a party, The Fashion Law reports, and Smalls then posted it to her Instagram account. It appears from the comments on Smalls's feed that she received a private message from Roche - who reportedly threatened to take legal action if the picture was not either credited or removed.

Joan Smalls on the Victoria's Secret catwalk

Picture credit: Rex Features

"As the photographer, she is the rights holder," The Fashion Law reports. "While Smalls may be able to pursue her own cause of action for a violation of her right to publicity - namely, for Roche's use of her "name, image [or] likeness," - this is not necessarily a home run for Smalls because in New York, this cause of action is largely based on use that is for the purpose of advertising or trade."

Although the image may now have been deleted, and therefore the matter may seem to be at an end, the photographer involved in the Kloss incident, Rachel Scroggins, wrote candidly last year about the impact that her image being posted uncredited by Kloss has had on her life and career since then.

"I do the majority of my fashion-week work on spec, meaning I get paid after the fact," she explained. "No one is giving me hundreds of dollars to attend shows. I work alone, doing all of the requests, scheduling, planning, and post-show marketing and publicity myself. I make my income selling images - mostly backstage beauty - after the fact, and shooting editorials and portraits the rest of the year. If I had been credited in the first place, I would have received what amounts to major publicity, and had publications contacting me directly to licence the photo. In the end, the fun fact of all of this is that right now, I've lost what amounts to hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in image licensing fees thanks to one Instagram post."