X Corp. has partially revived its legal battle against Israeli data scraping firm Bright Data Ltd., with a California federal judge allowing some of the social media company's amended claims to proceed. The lawsuit alleges Bright Data engaged in unauthorized and "sophisticated efforts" to access X's platform, causing harm to its operations.

Unauthorized Access Claims Move Forward

U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup ruled Tuesday that X’s updated complaint sufficiently alleges that Bright Data improperly accessed X's servers and engaged in fraudulent business practices. These revised claims can now proceed, though amendments related specifically to scraping and selling data remain blocked.

"This proposed complaint plausibly alleges that Bright Data undertook sophisticated efforts to access X with knowledge that such access was beyond the scope of any authorization," Judge Alsup wrote.

X's earlier lawsuit, dismissed in May, claimed Bright Data violated terms by scraping data such as user bios, locations, posts, and brand affiliations. Bright Data allegedly sold this information to customers, including Fortune 500 companies. While Judge Alsup found scraping-related claims were preempted by the Copyright Act, he left the door open for X to revise claims tied to unauthorized access.

Updated Claims Highlight Server Strain

In its amended complaint, X detailed how Bright Data's scraping activities disproportionately strained server capacity, causing intermittent glitches and degraded user experiences. X further alleged it incurred costs to replace or upgrade servers to address these disruptions.

Judge Alsup noted that the updated allegations marked a significant improvement over prior claims.

"X now plausibly alleges that scrapers traverse the X service in patterns markedly different from humans or authorized machines, resulting in abnormal use of server capacity," the judge wrote. This claim of "trespass to chattels" is now viable, as X demonstrated the harm caused by Bright Data's unauthorized access.

X Revives Lawsuit Against Israeli Data Scraping Firm : Scraping-Related Claims Still Barred

However, Judge Alsup rejected amendments tied to scraping-related claims, such as misappropriation and unjust enrichment. These were previously dismissed under the Copyright Act, which preempts state-law claims attempting to control how publicly available content is used.

"X Corp. cannot use state-law claims to exercise control over content it licenses publicly, even when it charges fees for access," the May ruling stated. The court emphasized that X’s case centers on protecting its own monetization efforts, not user privacy.

"The Copyright Act imposes a different policy and precludes protection for 'sweat of the brow' alone," Judge Alsup explained. He analogized Bright Data's actions to historians gathering facts from public sources, noting that only unauthorized access, not mere data copying, might provide legal grounds for action.

X Revives Lawsuit Against Israeli Data Scraping Firm : Broader Implications

The lawsuit underscores the legal complexities surrounding data scraping, especially when platforms seek to protect publicly accessible information. While X achieved a partial victory, the case highlights the limits imposed by copyright law on controlling content distribution.

Legal Teams and Next Steps

X is represented by attorneys from Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick PLLC, while Bright Data's legal counsel includes Proskauer Rose LLP and Rogers Joseph O'Donnell. Representatives for both sides did not respond to requests for comment.