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
If a web server located outside the United States hosts video content that can be viewed by Internet users located in the United States, does a public performance result under U.S. copyright law?...more
On June 6, 2018, the Commercial Court of Vienna decided in favor of private broadcaster Puls4 and determined that YouTube qualified as directly liable for copyright infringing video uploads of its users. If maintained, the...more
Finding that President Trump’s Twitter feed constitutes a public forum, a federal judge in New York City held that it’s a First Amendment violation when the President or one of his assistants blocks a Twitter user from...more
I confess: I have mixed emotions regarding the iconic “monkey-selfie” photo and all the hubbub it has created.
Don’t get me wrong; I think monkeys are wonderful, and the photo deserves its iconic status. Who can resist...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
Does a search engine operator have to delist websites hosting, without authorization, your trade secret materials or other intellectual property? The answer may depend on where you sue—just ask Google. The U.S. District Court...more
3/21/2018
/ Appeals ,
Canada ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Conflicts of Laws ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Defamation ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Free Speech ,
Google ,
Indexing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Internet ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
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
In U.S. copyright law circles, one of the hottest topics of debate is the degree to which the fair use doctrine—which allows for certain unauthorized uses of copyrighted works—should protect companies building commercial...more
This post is a bit meta. It is about an event that I attended that was about an event that I didn’t attend.
Let me explain. I missed the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year, but was fortunate to attend the Paley...more
In order to comply with a new German law requiring social media sites to take down hate speech, Twitter and Facebook removed anti-Islamic social media posts authored by a German far-right political party....more
Often derided as clickbait, listicles get a bum rap. They can be light on substantive content, sure, but sometimes that’s a good thing, especially for the busy readers of legal blogs, who would do well to treat themselves to...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
In an effort to deter hate groups from tweeting sanitized versions of their messages, Twitter has began considering account holders’ off platform behavior when the platform evaluates whether potentially harmful tweets should...more
In the classic rock song “Light My Fire,” ‘60s icon and the Doors’ lead singer Jim Morrison sang, “The time to hesitate is through.”
If your company operates a website or blog that hosts user-generated content, and has yet...more
12/14/2017
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Office ,
Digital Media ,
DMCA ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Safe Harbors ,
Social Media ,
Third-Party Risk ,
User-Generated Content ,
Websites
The government in Indonesia has warned the world’s biggest social media providers that they risk being banned in that country if they don’t block pornography and other content deemed obscene....more
After British police unsuccessfully tried to get the blogging platform WordPress.com to remove offensive and threatening posts, the deputy leader of the UK’s Labour Party vowed to urge changes that would make the country’s...more
Technology-company M&A slowed down significantly over the last year, with deal volume down by 15% across the globe in Q3 of 2017 compared to Q3 of 2016, and a $37 billion decline to $119 billion in Q3 2017 tech-company deal...more
As part of a new tracking system, the Department of Homeland Security will be keeping records of immigrants’ social media handles and search results.
Russia to Facebook: Turn over user-information or risk being blocked....more
In 2016, brands spent $570 million on social influencer endorsements on Instagram alone. This recode article takes a looks at how much influencers with certain followings can command, and whether they’re worth the investment....more
9/25/2017
/ Advertising ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Endorsements ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Google ,
Influencers ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Instagram ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media
A federal appeals court in Miami held that a judge needn’t necessarily recuse herself from a case being argued by a lawyer with whom the judge is merely Facebook “friends.”...more
We discussed last year the trend toward companies seeking to monetize user-generated content. A recent Central District of California decision in Greg Young Publishing, Inc. v. Zazzle, Inc. serves as an important reminder of...more
In an opinion granting a preliminary injunction preventing LinkedIn from blocking a startup’s use of information in LinkedIn profiles accessible to the entire public, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of...more
A federal district court in Wisconsin struck down the first law in the country requiring augmented-reality-game makers to go through a complicated permit-application process before their apps could be used in county parks....more
A defamation suit brought by one reality television star against another—and naming Discovery Communications as a defendant—could determine to what extent (if any) media companies may be held responsible for what their talent...more
8/9/2017
/ Alphabet Company ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Defamation ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Free Speech ,
Google ,
Influencers ,
Marketing ,
Social Media ,
UK