This was one of the more interesting stories of the year – does the photographer who set up everything to allow for a monkey to take a selfie own the copyright to that selfie? This year we learned that no, the photographer does not.
4. Infographic: The Use of Images From The Web on Your Site, Newspaper or Broadcast - Enough Said:
3. The Law on Unpaid Interns – This post makes the list almost every year because I repost the guest post by Michael Kelsheimer of the Texas Employer Handbook every year as tech start-ups look to hire unpaid interns. It’s a little more complicated than you may think.
2. #SMH-butnotacontestorasweepstakes – Check your online promotion hashtag or face scrutiny from the FTC - This post covered the surprise investigation of the Wandering Sole contest by Cole Haan. The FTC basically said if you are going to have customers “endorse” your products by and through a contest, you better make sure the connection between the endorsement and contest is disclosed. The legality of online contests is a popular topic with an older post Is Your Online Sweepstakes or Contest Legal still remaining popular.
1. When Online Behavior Crosses the Line – The Law on Threats, Libel and Just Being Rude - Online defamation and related topics continue to be popular. In fact, this post from 2012, remains one of the most popular on the site, How to Identify the Anonymous Online Defamer. My suspicion is that SEO on these topics leads to more page views. Nevertheless, it continues to be a very important issue for individuals and businesses and will likely continue in 2015.
*photo text: From the Wikimedia Commons website