Twitter accounts for two prominent sports websites were suspended Monday evening as part of take-down requests from the National Football League.

Gawker Media-owned Deadspin had its main Twitter account briefly suspended, while Vox Media-owned SB Nation's @SBNationGIF account – which tweets short animated videos of in-game footage – remains suspended.

"The NFL sent routine notices as part of its copyright enforcement program requesting that Twitter disable links to more than a dozen pirated NFL game videos and highlights that violate the NFL's copyrights," the NFL said in a statement. "We did not request that any Twitter account be suspended."

Upon its return, the Deadspin account tweeted a story making fun of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Publishers have for years embedded clips from sporting events on their sites and social media accounts – claiming "fair use" for editorial purposes – but leagues and rights-holders are getting more aggressive. During the 2014 World Cup, for example, Twitter suspended multiple Vine accounts belonging to SBNation.

The dust-up also comes as the NFL makes an increased digital push, including a deal to bring more game highlights to Twitter. The league also launched a YouTube channel this year.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

Write to Steven Perlberg at steven.perlberg@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 12, 2015 22:55 ET (02:55 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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