This odyssey began when an old laptop was discovered by a curious 14-year-old boy in Kansas. The boy, known only as “QR,” used it to sneak onto a handful of adult websites over two months last year, racking up 118 virtual...more
7/2/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
At-Will Employment ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Cyber Threats ,
Employment Policies ,
Exploitation ,
Facebook ,
Fines ,
Fraud ,
Free Speech ,
Influencers ,
LGBTQ ,
Metaverse ,
Minors ,
Social Media ,
Termination ,
Websites
As in-game economies evolve, the complexity surrounding virtual goods and services, content creation, and payment structures deepens. As part of this ongoing series on in-game economies, this installment explores issues...more
4/9/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Compliance ,
Copyright ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Media ,
EULA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
In-Game Purchases ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Money Transmitter ,
Payment Systems ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party ,
User-Generated Content
Effective January 1, 2025, California’s Assembly Bill 2426 (AB 2426) mandates that companies clearly disclose when consumers are obtaining a revocable license to “digital goods” (broadly defined to include digital audiovisual...more
The D.C. district court recently affirmed the U.S. Copyright Office’s position that a work generated entirely by artificial intelligence (AI) technology is not eligible for copyright protection. The case is Stephen Thaler v....more
8/30/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Authorship ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Office ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventors ,
Machine Learning ,
The Copyright Act ,
Work Made For Hire Doctrine
Social Links is our ongoing series here at Socially Aware that rounds up current developments at the intersection of social media, policy, research, and the law.
Embedding social media posts can be considered copyright...more
A federal district court judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., dismissed the complaint in a case filed by Genius, a platform that lets users share and annotate lyrics, holding that the plaintiff’s claims were preempted by copyright law....more
A federal district court in New York held that a photographer failed to state a claim against digital-media website Mashable for copyright infringement of a photo that Mashable embedded on its website by using Instagram’s...more
As regular readers of Socially Aware already know, there are many potential traps for companies that use photographs or other content without authorization from the copyright owners. For example, companies have faced...more
It is likely no surprise to regular readers of Socially Aware that posting content to social media can, in some cases, generate significant income. But those who make their living on social media may find their livelihood...more
A federal district court dismissed a case against supermodel Gigi Hadid for posting to Instagram a photo of herself that was taken by a paparazzo. The reason for the court’s decision was simple: The party claiming copyright...more
An advertising executive who lost his job after being named on an anonymous Instagram account is suing the now-defunct account for defamation. The suit names as defendants not only the account—Diet Madison Avenue, which was...more
Based on copyright infringement, emotional distress and other claims, a federal district court in California awarded $6.4 million to a victim of revenge porn, the posting of explicit material without the subject’s consent....more
In a decision that has generated considerable controversy, a federal court in New York has held that the popular practice of embedding tweets into websites and blogs can result in copyright infringement. Plaintiff Justin...more
Happy 2018 to our readers! It has become a Socially Aware tradition to start the New Year with some predictions from our editors and contributors. With smart contracts on the horizon, the Internet of Things and...more
1/6/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Cryptocurrency ,
EU ,
Fair Use ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Internet of Things ,
Online Advertisements ,
Patent Litigation ,
Privacy Policy ,
Safe Harbors ,
Smart Contracts ,
Token Sales ,
UK Brexit ,
Web Scraping
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a North Carolina law that the state has used to prosecute more than 1,000 sex offenders for posting on social media is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment....more
6/26/2017
/ Certiorari ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Copyright ,
DMCA ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Fair Use ,
First Amendment ,
Hate Speech ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Offenders ,
Social Media ,
YouTube
One year since agreeing with the European Commission to remove hate speech within 24 hours of receiving a complaint about it, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube are removing flagged content an average of 59% of the...more
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently considered in BWP Media USA, Inc. v. T&S Software Associates, Inc. whether volitional conduct is required to establish a claim for direct copyright infringement against an Internet...more
Welcome to the newest edition of Socially Aware, our Burton Awardwinning guide to the law and business of social media.
In this edition, we explore the threat to U.S. jobs posed by rapid advances in emerging technologies;...more
4/21/2017
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Copyright ,
Cross-Device ,
DMCA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Google ,
Mobile Apps ,
Safe Harbors ,
Snapchat ,
Stored Communications Act ,
Technology Sector ,
Tracking Systems ,
Trump Administration ,
WhatsApp
Without Google’s permission, Burger King ended one of its television commercials with a statement designed to automatically cause Google Assistant devices to read a list of the Whopper’s ingredients out loud.
Having passed...more
The beginning of a new year is a time for resolutions and predictions. We won’t bother Socially Aware readers with our resolutions for 2017, but we thought that we would share some predictions for the new year from our...more
1/5/2017
/ Blockchain ,
Copyright ,
DMCA ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinTech ,
Infrastructure ,
Internet of Things ,
LabMD ,
Marketing ,
Patent Litigation ,
Section 230 ,
Social Media ,
Technology ,
Trump Administration
Facebook introduced technology that disables ad blockers used by people who visit the platform via desktop computers, but Adblock Plus has already foiled the platform’s efforts, at least for now....more
8/15/2016
/ Ad-Blockers ,
Amicus Briefs ,
Copyright ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
LinkedIn ,
Mobile Apps ,
PETA ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Software ,
Twitter ,
Web Scraping
In This Issue:
- Court Protects Anonymity of Yelp Users
- FTC Issues Landmark Report on Internet of Things
- Who Will Update My Status When I’m Dead?: The Biggest Social Media Platforms’ Policies on...more
5/15/2015
/ Anonymity ,
Copyright ,
Digital Assets ,
DMCA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet of Things ,
Mobile Devices ,
Online Reviews ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Web Scraping ,
Web Tracking ,
Yelp
Boxing fans eagerly awaited the May 2, 2015, championship match between boxers Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. But the fight also drew the interest of those following online video apps Meerkat and Periscope....more
5/12/2015
/ Cable Television Providers ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
DMCA ,
HBO ,
Injunctions ,
Internet Streaming ,
Live Streaming ,
Showtime ,
Sports ,
Takedown Notices
Under section 512(f) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), copyright owners are liable for “any damages” stemming from knowingly false accusations of infringement that result in removal of the accused online...more
Social drinkers. The founder of the Lagunitas Brewing Company decided to drop a lawsuit that he’d filed against Sierra Nevada for trademark infringement after beer drinkers expressed their disapproval of the suit on Twitter. ...more
1/19/2015
/ Beer ,
Copyright ,
Music ,
Reputation Management ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
Twitter ,
Video Recordings ,
YouTube