Image creators sue Meta over large-scale copyright infringement
September 3, 2024
Interesting news from the Netherlands: Dutch copyright organization Pictoright has summed Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for copyright infringement. The company is not fulfilling its legal obligations towards the visual artists represented by Pictoright.
Pictoright is of the opinion that Meta should pay a fair remuneration for the use of images on their social media platforms. Meta has been obliged to do so under the Dutch Copyright Act since 2021 (when the Dutch law was adapted to European regulations), but has failed to do so until now.
'Social media platforms make a huge amount of money from advertising thanks to the content that users upload and distribute,' says Hanneke Holthuis, General Counsel of Pictoright. 'Much of that content is created by professional photographers, designers, illustrators, architects, and other visual artists - works that are protected by copyright. Freely and without consent, their work is being shared on a large scale. It is only fair that the creators of these works be compensated for this, as is the case for other forms of large-scale use.'
Pictoright aims for an agreement with Meta to pay benefits to creators when their work is uploaded to social media, ensuring image creators receive fair compensation for their mass-shared work on social media.
The case was filed in December last year, but we are sharing the news now because the first court hearing is coming up, scheduled for 19 September in Amsterdam. The wheels of justice might turn slowly (and the tactic of Meta up until now seems to have been one of delay, delay and more delay), the outcome of this case could be very interesting for cartoonists.
What it would basically mean is that Meta would be obliged to pay a fee for cartoons that are uploaded and shared to social media. In the Netherlands this would most like be in the form of a payment to Pictoright, which would then be distributed among artists. Many cartoonists take issue with the fact that social media profit massive from their visual content without any form of compensation, while also needing social media to connect with their audience and to build a fan base. An 'upload fee' would be a very welcome solution to this problem, even when the fee would only apply to those images uploaded by others.
The legal process will likely take a long time, and the outcome of this case will be applicable only to the Netherlands. But if Pictoright wins, copyright organizations in other countries will likely follow suit. In any case, we'll keep you informed.