No one asked for a copy, they just took it.

When I click a link, I am sending a request to a server. I am asking that server to provide me with information. The server’s operator is responsible for determining if and how the server should respond to my request. I don’t control that server. I can’t force it to send me data. I can only ask. If it is configured to accede to my request, it will start sending data, which may or may not be the data I requested. If it doesn’t want to, it can tell me to pound sand. The operator of that server is responsible for the server’s actions. The operator of that server is the uploader.

If Meta actually “just took it”, we wouldn’t be having a discussion about copyright. We would be talking about “Unlawful access to a computer”.

They didn’t “receive” a copy.

They absolutely did.

They actively pursued the content…

Actively pursuing content is perfectly lawful.

…and made a copy without permission…

You can’t copy something you do not possess. The entity who copied it was the uploader, not the downloader. That uploader created and distributed a copy by sending a bitstream to the receiver. Putting that bitstream on their hard drive is “receiving” not “creating a copy”.

…for profit.

A profit motive is only relevant if we are talking about a fair use exemption. They aren’t raising a fair use defense.

Making a copy of copyrighted content without permission is illegal.

Which they did not do. The uploader may have violated the law, but the downloader has not.