- TikToker Cecelia Fales claims BarkBox stole her video and shared it on Instagram with out her consent.
- “I informed the corporate they may not put up the video with out paying me for his or her work,” she stated in a TikTok.
- A BarkBox spokesperson informed Insider there was “a miscommunication on our staff.”
A TikToker is accusing BarkBox of stealing her content material and sharing an altered model of it on the canine toy firm’s Instagram account.
In a now viral TikTok, which has been considered greater than 5 million occasions, Cecelia Fales, who goes by the username @ceceandherpups, claims that BarkBox edited one in all her unique movies and posted it to the corporate’s Instagram web page final month — though she initially refused permission when the corporate reached out.
“They eliminated my watermark, they eliminated my voiceover, they usually put their very own music behind the video to make it appear extra unique and like their video,” she stated within the video posted earlier this month. “They then posted it to their Instagram account though I informed the corporate they may not put up the video with out paying me for his or her work.”
Fales stated she was subsequently blocked by the BarkBox social media staff after an e-mail back-and-forth in regards to the incident, calling out the corporate in her video for its “extraordinarily unprofessional conduct.”
A BarkBox spokesperson informed Insider the corporate has “not been in a position to determine any such blocking and we’d by no means do this” because it “is towards BARK coverage.”
In a followup video, Fales shared screenshots of conversations between herself and the BarkBox staff relating to the video. When she expressed she wasn’t snug with the corporate utilizing her video with out compensation, she stated she was related with the model’s staff to debate charges.
However she stated the corporate didn’t find yourself paying her and posted her video to Instagram anyway with out her permission. “I used to be livid. I had created a lot free content material for his or her model, merely for them to go and disrespect me like that,” she stated within the video.
A BarkBox spokesperson informed Insider there was “a miscommunication on our staff,” calling the since-deleted Instagram put up “a scenario that we take significantly.”
“Like many firms, BARK commonly groups up with creators, offering free samples of our merchandise and syndicating content material that includes these merchandise on our channels,” the spokesperson stated. “We’ve a strategy of aligning with creators on any particular phrases forward of posting. Nonetheless, because of a miscommunication on our staff, we briefly posted this creator’s content material in error with out aligning on phrases.”
The spokeperson continued: “BARK tagged the creator within the put up, which featured a BARK toy, so there was full attribution and fast discover to the creator of the posting. BARK honored the creator’s request for the content material to be taken down minutes after it was posted and sincerely apologized for the error. We’re working straight with the creator to resolve this matter.”
Followers have since rallied behind Fales, calling out BarkBox on its numerous social media accounts.
“Deleteing all my TikTok’s of my canine in case barkbox steals it,” wrote one person on BarkBox’s newest TikTok video.
“Canceled. Yall know higher,” wrote one other on a BarkBox Instagram put up.
