DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Photographer loses embedding lawsuit against Meta… For now

Oct 27, 2022 by Dunja Djudjic 3 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Earlier this year, a photographer filed a lawsuit against Meta. As in some previous cases, it was because of Meta’s embed tool which allows anyone to add photos to third-party websites without asking for permission.

However, the photographer lost the case – or more precisely, he lost this round. The judge gave him permission to amend his complaint, which means that he could win the war despite losing this battle.

Photographer Don Logan filed a class action lawsuit against Meta in February 2022. According to Reuters, he did it on behalf of a group of photographers, not just himself. Their photos were allegedly “embedded from Facebook onto third-party websites, or from other websites onto Facebook,” Reuters writes, in both cases without their permission.

But U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed most of Logan’s allegations. He said that, since the third parties didn’t store the copies of images and videos, they didn’t “fix” the copyrighted work in any “tangible medium of expression.” Logan also alleged false advertising in his lawsuit, but Breyer dismissed them as well. The judge said that Meta didn’t misinterpret the “creation and ownership” of his photos.

“Breyer also rejected Logan’s claims that Facebook misused pictures from other websites because he had not shown that those pictures were registered with the U.S. Copyright Office,” Reuters writes. However, the judge added that Logan may be able to show that Meta saved some of the photos to its servers. This gives him an opportunity to amend his complaint. And according to his attorney – that’s exactly what he’ll do. Logan’s Lee Squitieri told Reuters in an email that his client plans to refile the lawsuit and believes he can “cure all of the flaws noted by the court.”

This isn’t the first lawsuit involving Meta’s embedding tool. It’s also not the first lost one. Back in 2020, photographer Stephanie Sinclair sued Mashable over copyright infringement after they embedded her Instagram post into their article. However, the New York federal court dismissed her lawsuit. Later that year, Instagram came forward saying that it does not grant a sublicense to anybody who embeds public Instagram posts. It’s all pretty confusing, isn’t it? But there’s more.

In 2021, nature photographer Paul Nicklen won a copyright lawsuit against the Sinclair Broadcast Group over nearly the same thing. He posted a video on his Instagram, which Sinclair embedded on its website. But I said “nearly the same” because Sinclair also included a screenshot from the video without asking the photographer for permission first. And in December 2021, Instagram had the decency to finally make the embedding optional. So, now you can choose whether or not you want your Instagram content to be embeddable and shared on third-party websites.

Considering the different verdicts from the previous cases, anything can happen in the Logan vs. Meta case. The judge has given Logan a chance to refile the lawsuit and there’s still room for a plot twist – and we’ll keep you updated about it.

[via PetaPixel]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Nikon loses its patent lawsuit against Zeiss and ASML – Ordered to pay €475,000 Publisher Steidl loses photographer’s prints and faces a lawsuit Photographer Loses Copyright Suit Against Mapmaker Because of Licensing Technicality Photographer loses case against Met museum who used his photo without permission

Filed Under: news Tagged With: embed, embedding, lawsuit, Meta

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Rode has launched the new dedicated brand Rode X for streamers to get the best audio online
Tesla coil electrical arcs at 1,750,000 frames per second look absolutely insane »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Photographer’s Block? Here’s how to get out of a creative rut
  • Zhiyun MOLUS G60 & X100 LED lights are tiny-tiny powerful LEDs
  • Three new full-frame and APS-C Sigma lenses coming soon
  • Sony launches DSC-HX99 retinal projection kit for the visually impaired
  • DIYP Quiz: AI or photo?

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy