Instagram Beats Users' Suit Over Embed Feature – The Hollywood Reporter

Instagram has defeated a suit from users who say their embed feature flouts copyright laws by allowing third party websites display videos and images without a license. Two photographers in May sued Instagram on behalf users who uploaded content to the app that was later embedded elsewhere without permission. Alexis Hunley and Matthew Brauer argue that Instagram’s embed feature lets third parties display content without licensing it and therefore the app is secondarily liable for enabling their copyright infringement. Instagram in July filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, arguing that because embedding “is not direct copyright infringement” no one can be secondarily liable for enabling it. The social media app argued that not only do users agree to terms of use that gives Instagram “a nonexclusive license to publicly reproduce and display the content the user uploads and posts to their account,” but the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has established a “server test” under which a company can only be liable for copyright infringement if it “hosts and transmits” the material. Instagram argues it hosts and transmits the content but can’t be liable for directly infringing copyrights because it has a license — and, because third parties…
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