Twitter has removed a post by Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo following complaints by copyright owner Beyoncé Knowles.
The American tech company said that the tweet made on March 8 violated the singer’s copyright.
Osinbajo had posted a video with Beyoncé’s song Run the World playing in the background to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day celebration.
However, the tweet did not attribute its content to Beyoncé, violating the social media platform’s copyright regulations.
The development sparked backlash from Nigerians who accused the vice president of disregarding vital issues affecting the country.
In the heat of the backlash, Nigerian Twitter user @olayknowless tweeted at Beyoncé asking her to report Osinbajo’s account for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).
“Ma’am @Beyonce, Nigeria’s current Vice President who has never properly done his job has used your song without permission, ask Jack your good friend to take care of his account In accordance with DMCA violation penalties,” the user wrote.
Ma’am @Beyonce, Nigeria’s current Vice President who has never properly done his job has used your song without permission, ask Jack your good friend to take care of his account In accordance with DMCA violation penalties. https://t.co/IvTeWUoQ0n
— Ólay🇳🇬 (@OlayKnowless) March 8, 2021
It was unclear if Beyoncé immediately acted on @olayknowless’ request, but on Wednesday, @olayknowless took to her Twitter page to announce that the vice president’s tweet had been removed.
“LMFAOOOOOOOOOOO They actually took Osinbajo’s tweet down for using Beyoncé’s song I AM SCREAMING. My day just got like 5x better,” she tweeted.
LMFAOOOOOOOOOOO They actually took Osinbajo’s tweet down for using Beyoncé’s song I AM SCREAMING. https://t.co/iSzOk700sw
— Ólay🇳🇬 (@OlayKnowless) December 15, 2021
The tweet was “withheld in response to a notification from the copyright holder,” according to Twitter.
All unlawful use of copyrighted materials, according to the microblogging platform, constitutes infringement.
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