Creators Move Delhi HC Over Alleged Meta Copyright Abuse

Two digital content creators have filed a petition in the Delhi High Court alleging that Meta’s copyright enforcement system is being misused through fraudulent copyright complaints to take down original content and threaten Instagram accounts.

Bar and Bench reported that financial educator Pushkar Raj Thakur and digital creator Neeraj Joshi have filed the commercial suits alleging that some unknown individuals are misusing Meta’s copyright reporting mechanism by submitting false ownership claims.

Also Read: adidas Celebrates FIFA World Cup 2026 in Mizoram

Court Proceedings:

The petitions say the misuse involves Facebook’s post-editing feature. The developers say that the first thing people do is upload irrelevant content on Facebook, then replace it with a video of an Instagram creator using the edit option. Since Facebook still shows the original date of publication after editing, the edited post appears as if it was published before the original post by the creator.

These edited posts are then used to claim ownership on Meta’s Rights Manager, the creators say, resulting in copyright strikes on real content. They say Meta’s automated enforcement system follows up on such complaints without checking authorship, metadata, edit history or the real timeline of publication.

On July 9, Justice Jyoti Singh recorded Meta’s submission in the case of Neeraj Joshi that if the account has not already been permanently disabled, it would look into the allegations. The firm also promised the Court that Joshi’s verified Instagram account would be protected.

Also Read: MINI India Launches Campaign Featuring Kareena Kapoor Khan for New Countryman

The Court directed Meta to share Basic Subscriber Information and IP logs of the account with Joshi within three weeks which may help to identify the alleged perpetrators of the copyright complaints. Summons have also been issued in the matter and Joshi's plea for interim relief will be heard on August 5.

Pushkar Raj Thakur also levelled similar allegations, saying that several videos were taken down, disabled or restricted on account of false copyright strikes. He also said that Meta refused him access to Rights Manager while the alleged infringers continued to use the tool against him.

On May 29, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela had asked Meta to specify measures it had taken or proposed to take to prevent alleged misuse of its copyright enforcement mechanism.

In the next hearing on July 1 before Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, Meta told the court that Thakur’s videos would not be taken down due to copyright strikes until the next hearing. The company also assured the court that his Instagram account would not be disabled due to multiple copyright complaints.

Meta has also agreed to put back the deleted videos if Thakur provides the links to them. The Court noted the company’s assurances and listed the matter for further hearing on 17 July.