Court Sides With Pinterest in Copyright Case Brought by Photographer Over Push Notifications

A court has sided with Pinterest in a case brought by a photographer over his copyrighted photos being shown in email and push notifications outside of its platform.

A California federal judge on Monday granted summary judgment in favor of Pinterest in a proposed class action accusing the company of unlawfully displaying copyrighted photographs in promotional emails and notifications, finding the social media platform is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) safe harbor provision.

According to a report by IP Law, the lawsuit was brought by Maureen Harrington on behalf of the estate of professional photographer Blaine Harrington III. The photographer’s suit alleged that Pinterest directly infringed copyrighted photos by including them in email, in-app, and mobile push notifications sent to users outside Pinterest’s website.

The lawsuit stemmed from a July 2020 email notification sent by Pinterest to Harrington that displayed one of the photographer’s copyrighted pictures, a beach image titled “Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA.” Harrington filed suit shortly afterward. Following his death, a family member was substituted as the plaintiff to continue the case.

The central legal question was whether notifications sent outside Pinterest’s platform could still be considered protected activity under the DMCA. The court found that the law protects Pinterest’s use of the images and ruled in the company’s favor, ending the case without a trial. It ruled that the emails and notifications were generated to enhance user access to content stored on Pinterest and therefore qualified as an “access-facilitating” process. Although the Ninth Circuit has not previously ruled specifically on notifications, the court noted that it has held that activities “narrowly directed towards enhancing the accessibility of posts” are eligible for safe harbor protection. The court found little difference between displaying an image on a website and displaying it in an email that links back to the platform.

Harrington argued that because the images appeared outside Pinterest’s website, the displays did not enhance access to stored content and should not be protected. But the court rejected that argument, finding that the DMCA does not limit safe harbor protection only to displays occurring directly on a service provider’s website. The court also considered whether Pinterest had actual or “red flag” knowledge of infringement or received a direct financial benefit from the alleged infringement. It found no evidence supporting either claim.

Photographers have brought several copyright infringement lawsuits against Pinterest in recent years, but the company has largely prevailed. PetaPixel previously reported on a federal judge who ruled in Pinterest’s favor in another case brought by a photographer who alleged infringement of more than fifty copyrighted works through “promoted pins.” In that case, the court also found that Pinterest’s conduct was protected by the DMCA and held that the photographer failed to adequately demonstrate that Pinterest had the required knowledge of infringement.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.