Facebook Class Action Claims Company Knowingly Displays, Publishes Stolen Images

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Meta Facebook Copyright Infringement Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Jennifer L. Cook filed a class action lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. 
• Why: Cook claims Meta subsidiary Facebook allows copyright infringement to occur on its platform to “pad its own bottom line.”
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court. 

Facebook profits off of publishing advertisements featuring copyright-infringing stolen images from artists, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Jennifer L. Cook claims Facebook, a subsidiary of Meta Platforms, has created an online “epidemic” for copyright infringement that has become “out of control.” 

Cook claims multiple “counterfeiters” have “stolen” pictures she has created from her website and posted them in Facebook ads “hundreds of times.” 

“The counterfeiters or Facebook removed JL Cook’s identifying marks from the images they used in the ads and advertised Plaintiff’s Registered Works as their own products for a significantly discounted price,” the Facebook class action states. 

Cook claims Facebook makes this copyright infringement possible by looking the other way since the “bulk of Facebook’s billions of dollars in annual revenue comes from advertising.” 

Facebook Allows Copyright Infringement To ‘Pad Bottom Line,’ Class Action Claims 

Facebook both infringes copyrights and enables others to infringe on copyrights to “pad its own bottom line” since the company makes a profit every time a user clicks on an advertisement, the Facebook class action alleges. 

“This is to the direct detriment of the owners of the images and the creators and owners of the unlawfully advertised products or pieces of art,” the Facebook class action states. 

Cook argues that by allowing copyright infringement to occur, including in ads used to sell counterfeit items, Facebook is exploiting both small businesses and “struggling artists.” 

“Facebook’s exploitation of small business owners and struggling artists is harmful to both the survival of small businesses and the creativity the Copyright Act is designed to protect and encourage,” the Facebook class action states. 

Cook claims Meta is guilty of direct and contributory copyright infringement, vicarious liability for copyright infringement and unjust enrichment and in violation of the Visual Artists’ Rights Act, the Lanham Act, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. 

Cook wants to represent a nationwide class and Florida subclass of content creators who had one of their images displayed in an advertisement on Facebook without their consent. 

Plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and requesting injunctive relief along with actual, consequential and enhanced damages for herself and all class members. 

Facebook agreed to pay $90 million earlier this month to end claims that it tracked the online activity of its users after they had logged out of the platform. 

Have you had your art used in a Facebook advertisement without your consent? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Arielle M. Canepa, Brian C. Gudmundson, Rachel K. Tack and Michael J. Laird of Zimmerman Reed LLP and Jonathan L. Hardt and James F. McDonough of Rozier Hardt McDonough PLLC.

The Meta Facebook Copyright Infringement Class Action Lawsuit is Cook v. Meta Platforms, Inc., Case No. 3:22-cv-02485, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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