Copyright dispute: Axel Springer v Adblock plus - Scammers use Meta's copyright tools to extort content creators

Copyright dispute: Axel Springer v Adblock plus

Axel Springer, the German multimedia company, continues its long-running legal battle against Eyeo GmbH, the company behind the popular AdBlock Plus software. Despite several defeats, Axel Springer maintains that the ad blocker illegally interferes with its business model and violates copyright laws. The case is currently in the hands of the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH).

The dispute began in 2015, when Axel Springer first sued Eyeo, claiming that the ad blocker was harming its business model by disrupting online advertising, a key source of revenue for the publishing group. In April 2018, after several trials in regional courts, the German Supreme Court ruled in Eyeo's favour, holding that the use of AdBlock Plus did not violate competition law.

In 2019, the multimedia company filed a new lawsuit, arguing that AdBlock Plus had modified the code of its websites, which it claimed was a copyright infringement. However, the Hamburg Regional Court dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that there had been no unauthorised copying or modification of copyrighted software. In 2023, Axel Springer appealed the decision, but the Hamburg Higher Regional Court ruled against it.

Despite another defeat, the publisher continued its legal battle and took the case to the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH), which must decide whether AdBlock Plus infringes copyright by changing the way websites are displayed in users' browsers.  However, before making a decision, the BGH is awaiting the resolution of a similar case involving Sony and a cheating device that affects its PS5. Both Adblock Plus and Datel's cheat device for the PlayStation Portable change the way content is displayed on Springer's websites and Sony's games, but neither bypasses security measures nor copies copyrighted content.

Scammers use Meta's copyright tools to extort content creators

There has been an alarming rise in extortion cases targeting content creators and influencers, with individuals exploiting copyright management tools from Meta, the company behind platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. According to recent reports from Bloomberg, the New York news magazine, scammers are misusing these tools, which are designed to protect creators' content, to commit fraud.

The scammers' modus operandi is to make false copyright claims through Meta's tools, which leads to the removal of legitimate content from creators. Once the content is removed, the scammers contact the affected parties and offer to restore the content in exchange for substantial payments, threatening to continue their fraudulent claims if their demands are not met.

These practices are prevalent in the Middle East, but cases have also been reported among European influencers and elsewhere. The situation is particularly worrying because the scammers have found ways to access Meta's copyright management tools to file infringement claims and remove published content. This strategy damages the reputation and earnings of content creators by taking advantage of defences designed to protect their intellectual property rights.

The influencer community is alarmed and has pointed out the urgent need for Meta to improve its security and verification measures. It is expected that Meta will respond with additional measures to mitigate these risks and protect user’s rights, while affected influencers seek legal and strategic solutions to defend against this kind of digital extortion.