At a few point it became clearer that the reason for the takedown involved the unauthorized use of game footage, namely that of the the NFL (among other professional sports leagues).
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Sports news site Deadspin’s Twitter account was suspended for about two hours Monday after the NFL complained about animated GIFs showing highlights of football games.
John Cook, Gawker Media executive editor, told Re/code: “We got 18 takedown notices about 16 tweets”. The account was reinstated after we appealed the deactivation. Sports organisations, keen to preserve video licensing revenue, have come down particularly hard on users sharing clips on networks such as Twitter and Vine, with USA sports TV network ESPN and global football body FIFA pursuing similar takedowns to the NFL following World Cup matches in 2014.
Deadspin’s Twitter account has been restored, and they have sent out their first tweet since the suspension.
SB Nation received eight takedown notices from XOS Digital, which owns various college football digital broadcasting rights. “All in all, the account was, in Twitter’s words, “permanently suspended” from 5:30 pm to 7:45 pm [EST]”.
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It is unclear exactly why the Twitter account was suspended and why the suspension was later lifted.
