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# Not Cool, Comedy Central
- URL: https://www.vjarmy.com/not-cool-comedy-central/
- Published: 2014-11-11T05:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-19T02:56:18.000Z
- Description: What's a little plagiarism among TV networks?
- Author: Dan Dickinson
- Tags: The Internet

On Sunday night, Katie and I went to the Paley Center panel for Broad City. We’re big fans of the show, and it was a good panel. (If you’re a fan of the show, ask me about the Hannibal anecdote.)

During the panel, Katie [took a nice Instagram photo](http://instagram.com/p/vMrISdmoT2/?ref=vjarmy.com):

[](https://vjarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Screenshot-2014-11-10-19.58.38.png?ref=vjarmy.com)

It was so nice, that Monday evening she noticed that Comedy Central had liked her photo. She’s taken a lot of pride in putting things on Instagram lately, as she’s been building a decent following. But then she tapped through to Comedy Central’s instagram account and [saw this](http://instagram.com/p/vPRK0xlTzq/?ref=vjarmy.com):

[](https://vjarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Screenshot-2014-11-10-19.58.46.png?ref=vjarmy.com)

A filter, a different crop, and a logo doesn’t change the fact that this is very clearly Katie’s photo – unless someone was sitting at the exact same angle and took a picture at virtually the same instance.

And I’m willing to guess that isn’t the case, because you’ll notice the link is now broken. That’s because [after bringing attention to it on Twitter](http://twitter.com/Remy/status/531974943391903744?ref=vjarmy.com), Comedy Central yanked it down and replaced it with this:

[](https://vjarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Screenshot-2014-11-11-10.20.43.png?ref=vjarmy.com)

Notice how quick they were here to credit the Paley Center’s photographer in *this* instance – just not the original.

Look – it’s 2014\. Social media teams should be well aware by now that if you’re going to repurpose a photo from another user, attribution is a pretty basic courtesy. Yet not only did Comedy Central not attribute Katie’s photo, nor did they issue an apology (which is all Katie would like) – they decided to replace it entirely with someone else’s. They got caught, and rather than do the right thing, tried to erase the evidence – all the evidence except the like on Katie’s original photo. (At least, as I’m writing this. I wouldn’t be surprised if they revoke the like should someone read this post.)

I have [personal experience](https://vjarmy.com/archives/2010/08/license%5Ffee%5Ftruck%5Fnuts%5Fphoto.php?ref=vjarmy.com) that people within Comedy Central know how to properly respect copyright. I’m just saddened their social team thinks this is acceptable.