Photographer Accuses India’s Prime Minister Of Stealing His Photo And Using It For A Facebook Post

In observance of Diwali festival, a five-day Hindu religious event in India, the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, wished his 23 million fans on Facebook a happy Dhanteras celebration.

Dantheras is the first day of the Diwali Festival.

Attached with this Facebook greeting is a photo  taken from a source which Modi’s  social media team did not get the rights for using.

As expected, the photo went viral, until it reached photographer Bimal Nepal who claims to be the owner.

According to him, he does not have any knowledge that the prime minister was going to be using his picture.

Nepal told Buzzfeed News that he has been contacted by the Office of the Prime Minister in India saying they got it [photo] free from third-party websites. “The Prime Minister’s office is asking for free copyright to them for this image, so ridiculous,” he added.

Since Tuesday, the photo has been shared over 45,000 times, a more reason for Nepal to consider getting legal advice about suing the prime minister for copyright.

Nepal stressed that this situation is a great opportunity to talk and solve their issue for “intellectual property rights and copyright in this global age.”