Facebook metadata dumping violates copyright

German photographer Rainer Steußloff quietly won a potentially ground-breaking copyright lawsuit against Facebook, for its policy of stripping out metadata in photos and thus obscuring right holders’ information.

The sign outside the main entrance to Facebook HQ.

The sign outside the main entrance to Facebook HQ.

Freelens, a Germany photography association, issued a press release on November 9 announcing that Facebook ignored the lawsuit for six months, resulting in a forfeiture of the case.

Thumbs up to Steußloff, who specifically took aim at the social media giant’s practice of automatically stripping out IPTC data, a digital signature that has vital details regarding copyright ownership. German copyright law (s95c) specifies that removing this information is a violation of an individual’s intellectual property.

Facebook now faces fines of up to €250,000 each time a German photographer sues them for removing the metadata, pressing the social media giant to change the way it handles photo uploads. So it’s likely that – in Germany at least – photos will soon include metadata in uploaded photos.

‘This is good for photographers since it makes it easier for them to pursue copyright infringement,’ Hendrik Wieduwilt, lawyer and journalist, told Petapixel. ‘And since it is technically unlikely that Facebook will create a technical solution only for Germany, this might have global consequences.’

While only bound by German law in this instance, the social network has no borders. It would be challenging for Facebook to isolate Germany – or Germans – as the only users to retain metadata in photos. This is potentially good news for Australian photographers who would like to keep their metadata intact on Facebook.

In Australia, s116B of the Copyright Act states that removing ‘electronic rights management information’ is illegal. This section of Australian law mirrors the German law used to file suit against Facebook, and may well result in successful copyright action brought against the social network.

It’s unknown why Facebook strips metadata from photos – it’s the only popular social media platform doing it and hasn’t officially provided an explanation. Some suggest it’s to remove GPS data and other information to protect users’ privacy. While plausible, it seems unnecessary to remove all vital copyright information at the same time.

Facebook – to a great extend a law unto itself – hasn’t responded or challenged the lawsuit, and it appears to not have taken any remedial action to include photo metadata – yet.


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