As social media platforms continue to find new ways to allow users to share, post, and forward nonoriginal content and users become more engaged in the practice, the platforms hosting the content and disgruntled original content owners are bound to clash. In the past, Google, YouTube and others have been targeted for allowing users to post copyright-protected material, and ordered to remove the objected to material. A recent case filed in the Central District of California involves similar allegations against social media powerhouse Twitter. In Pierson v. Twitter, Inc., the plaintiff alleges that users tweeted her copyrighted image and that Twitter failed to remove the infringing material.
Pierson, who alleges she is a photographer specializing in event and live-music photography, contends her business relies on the licensing and selling of her photographs of famous musicians and bands. Pierson sells and commissions her works on her website.
Pierson further claims to be the copyright holder and owner of a still photograph of Herman Li, the guitarist for Dragonforce. Under the Copyright Act, as the copyright owner for the photograph, Pierson would enjoy exclusive rights to reproduce, display, distribute or prepare derivative works. But according to Pierson, Twitter users reproduced the Herman Li photograph, distributed it by attaching it to tweets, and displayed the photograph on Twitter, all without obtaining a license from Pierson and all in violation of her copyright.
Pierson asserts claims for secondary copyright infringement against Twitter, claiming Twitter induced, “caused or materially contributed to” users’ violations of her copyright. Pierson claims she gave Twitter notice of the infringing uses under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), but Twitter did not remove all of the infringing images.
The elements of Pierson’s contributory infringement claim include proof of direct infringement, knowledge and material contribution. Assuming the Twitter users actually uploaded Pierson’s copyrighted image to Twitter, that act satisfies the direct infringement element. (See, e.g., Columbia Pictures Inc. v. Fung, 710 F.3d 1020 (9th Cir. 2013).) The knowledge element can be satisfied if Pierson establishes that, as alleged, she provided actual notice to Twitter that the infringing material was available on their site. (Perfect 10 v. Amazon.com, Inc., 508 F.3d 1146, 1172 (2007).) The material contribution element can be satisfied by...
