Social media sites are transforming not only the daily lives of consumers, but also how companies interact with consumers. Here at Morrison Foerster, across all of our practice groups, we are seeing complex, cutting-edge legal issues arising out of social media. As with the Internet boom during the mid-to-late 1990s, social media is generating new legal questions at a far faster pace than the law’s ability to provide answers to such questions. In an effort to stay on top of these emerging issues, and to keep our clients and friends informed of new developments, Morrison Foerster publishes this blog devoted to the law and business of social media.<h2>ABOUT MORRISON FOERSTER</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

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Aaron is the chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals.Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data- and technology-intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud-based technology, digital media (social media, AR/VR, gaming, streaming media, AdTech), AI, healthcare, consumer electronics, e-commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on branding and marketing, trademark licensing, and content-related transactions, as well as the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin-offs, and private equity investments.He has represented clients such as Autodesk, Meta, OpenAI, Splunk, Konami, Kaiser Permanente, SoftBank, Visa, and Yahoo, among others.Aaron has been recognized by numerous publications for his work on market-defining technology transactions. He is currently ranked by Chambers USA for “Technology Transactions.”Aaron also serves as co-editor of Socially Aware, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics. Aaron is also a sought-after speaker on new and emerging areas of law, and is a frequent presenter and panelist at conferences and legal services programs. In addition to his active practice, Aaron regularly provides pro bono assistance to various nonprofit and charitable organizations such as Common Sense Media and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. He is a member of the board of directors of California Lawyers for the Arts.While in law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Aaron served as executive editor of the California Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Following law school, Aaron served as law clerk to the Honorable William H. Orrick and the Honorable Martin J. Jenkins, both United States District Judges for the Northern District of California.

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Aaron is the chair of our Technology Transactions Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals. Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data– and technology–intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud computing, AR/VR, AI, gaming, healthcare, consumer electronics, social media, e–commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin–offs, and private equity investments.

Aaron P. Rubin

Lawrence Gallick is of counsel in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.Lawrence focuses his practice on technology transactions and licensing matters. His diverse experience includes advising on SaaS agreements, cross-licensing agreements, research and collaboration agreements, development agreements, and distribution agreements. He counsels a broad range of companies across the software, hardware, life sciences, biotech and FinTech spaces, as well as other entities including universities.He advises clients in connection with general corporate matters including contract negotiations, and leasing and technology placement agreements.Lawrence also serves as co-editor of <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/" target="_blank">Socially Aware</a>, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics.Prior to joining the firm, Lawrence was counsel at another major law firm. Before earning his law degree, Lawrence was a web consultant, project manager, and web developer in Portland, Oregon, where he managed and consulted on projects using industry methodologies and performed custom development and integration of content management systems.Lawrence was named a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2015 and 2018–2022, and is licensed in both California and New York. Lawrence earned his J.D. from the University at Buffalo School of Law, where he was the electronic systems editor for the Buffalo Law Review and awarded the ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Intellectual Property Law.

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Lawrence Gallick

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster.Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions. His clients include technology, digital media and content for television and music, financial services, and communications companies with diverse intellectual property assets and issues.His practice focuses on the legal aspects of developing, licensing, and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts, including outsourcing transactions, as well as content and data licenses. He regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to licensing and commercialization of digital media and content, digital content that is distributed over the Internet or streamed, mobile applications and social media, as well as the licensing of recorded music for distribution via digital platforms. Anthony is also experienced with issues relating to open-source software, software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud-based technology, and protection of proprietary information.Anthony has extensive experience working on matters involving disruptive technologies, such as blockchain. He has helped fintech clients with general intellectual property issues in connection with terms of service for online financial products and services.Anthony is an integral part of the outside pro bono legal team for nonprofit organizations based in New York, including advising clients on legal issues regarding entertainment, social media, privacy rights, and the negotiation of outsourcing and service agreements. Anthony received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2009. He received his B.S. from Cornell University in 2004.

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Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster. He advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. His clients include technology, media, and communications companies with considerable intellectual property assets. His practice focuses on the legal aspects of licensing and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts. He also regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to mobile applications and social media.

Anthony M. Ramirez

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Socially Aware is devoted to the law and business of social media, proactively addressing emerging issues and keeping our clients informed of new developments. We cover fields such as artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, Section 230, intellectual property, and much more.

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In our September 2010 issue of Socially Aware, we provided a brief overview of Facebook’s “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities,” the social media service’s

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Caveat Emptor, Part II:  A Brief Overview of Twitter’s Terms of Service and Related Documents

Caveat Emptor, Part II:  A Brief Overview of Twitter’s Terms of Service and Related Documents | Socially Aware

In our September 2010 issue of Socially Aware, we provided a brief overview of Facebook’s “<a href="http://www.facebook.com/legal/terms">Statement of Rights and Responsibilities</a>,” the social media service’s complex set of terms and conditions that companies frequently “click-accept” with little review (often, in a rush to establish their Facebook presences).  Naturally, this situation is not limited to Facebook— for many if not most social media services— when users first sign up for an account, they are required to agree to the service’s lengthy standard terms and conditions of use.  It’s part of life on the Internet.And Twitter is no exception.  When you sign up for a Twitter account, “By clicking the button, you agree to the terms below.”  And although Twitter’s core <a href="http://twitter.com/tos">Terms of Service</a> are a bit shorter than Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Twitter’s terms similarly link and branch off to a variety of policies, guidelines, and related documents, all of which govern your use of the service.At the top of Twitter’s hierarchy of terms and conditions are the <a href="http://twitter.com/tos">Twitter Terms of Service</a>.  Those Terms of Service incorporate two documents by reference:  (1) Twitter’s <a href="http://twitter.com/privacy">Privacy Policy</a>, which notes that use of Twitter’s services constitutes consent to the collection, transfer, manipulation, storage, disclosure, and other uses of information described in such policy and (2) the <a href="http://support.twitter.com/articles/18311-the-twitter-rules">Twitter Rules</a>, which describe how end-users should and should not use Twitter, and impose a variety of rules regarding content, spam, and abuse.  But the Terms of Service also link to Twitter’s <a href="https://developer.twitter.com/en/developer-terms/agreement">Developer Rules of the Road</a> (described by Twitter as “an evolving set of rules for how ecosystem partners can interact with your content”), which govern the use of Twitter’s application programming interface (<a href="https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/api-reference-index">API</a>) and, more generally, Twitter’s philosophy around how information and content shared on Twitter can and cannot be used.Given the complexity of Twitter’s ecosystem, the Developer Rules of the Road branch off to and incorporate a variety of other policies and guidelines, including the service’s Display Guidelines, (which describe how Tweets must be displayed), <a href="http://support.twitter.com/articles/77641">rules on trademark usage</a>, <a href="http://support.twitter.com/articles/76915">automation rules</a>, <a href="http://support.twitter.com/articles/18311#spam">spam rules</a> (which actually loop back to the end-user-focused Twitter Rules), and various other documents.  A complete list of Twitter’s terms, conditions, rules, guidelines, and best practices can be found <a href="http://support.twitter.com/groups/33-report-a-violation">here</a> — there are 36 documents in total.Below, we describe a few key terms from Twitter’s various written policies.  These terms are not necessarily uncommon for Internet-based services — particularly services that are free to use — but they’re worth keeping in mind:Key Term for End-Users — Broad License to User Content.Foremost for many end-users of social media services, is the license being granted to such services in users’ posted content — and end-users grant Twitter a typically broad license.  By posting photos or other content on Twitter, end-users grant Twitter the right to “use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute” such content in any manner now known or later developed.  The Terms of Service also expressly provide that such license “includes the right for Twitter to make [such content] available to other companies, organizations or individuals who partner with Twitter” for the purpose of distributing such content on other media and services.  True, given that Tweets are publicly available by their nature (assuming a <a href="http://support.twitter.com/articles/14016-about-public-and-protected-accounts">public account</a>), one would expect a broad license grant.  But the grant to Twitter gives Twitter the right to use Tweets for purposes other than simply operating the Twitter service, and the right to distribute those Tweets in ways that may not have even existed when the Tweets were originally posted.  Although the broad license grant does apply to “protected” Tweets (i.e., Tweets that are not publicly viewable) and public Tweets alike, <a href="http://support.twitter.com/articles/14016-about-public-and-protected-accounts">Twitter does state</a>  that protected Tweets will not appear in Twitter or Google searches, meaning that, as a practical matter, a user’s privacy settings should be useful in controlling how widely Twitter may disseminate the user’s Tweets.Key Terms for Developers — API Terms.  Foremost for many developers who leverage social media services, are the services’ rules for accessing their platforms and APIs.  According to Twitter’s Terms of Service, unless otherwise permitted through Twitter’s services or terms, users are required to use the Twitter API in order to “reproduce, modify, create derivative works, distribute, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, or otherwise use” Twitter’s content or services.  In light of this, it is important for developers who leverage Twitter in their own apps and services to carefully review the terms and conditions governing Twitter’s API.  Those terms and conditions are sprinkled throughout Twitter’s policies, including the Developer Rules of the Road (changes to which are archived at Twitter’s API Terms of Service Archive) and Twitter’s Rate Limiting page, which addresses the number of “calls” that can be made to various Twitter APIs and services over time.  Of course, all of Twitter’s API restrictions are in addition to, and not in lieu of, those found in the site’s Terms of Service and elsewhere — per the Developer Rules of the Road, use of the API and Twitter content “are subject to certain limitations on access, calls, and use as set forth in the [rules], on dev.twitter.com, or as otherwise provided to you by Twitter.”  Perhaps most importantly, Twitter retains the right to block use of the API and Twitter’s content if Twitter believes that a user has attempted to circumvent or exceed any limitations imposed by Twitter, and Twitter disclaims any liability for resulting costs or damages.Key Terms for Everyone — Modifications to Twitter’s Terms and Services.  Twitter reserves the right to unilaterally modify its Terms of Service and the form and nature of its services at any time.  If Twitter determines in its sole discretion that changes to its Terms of Service are material, Twitter promises to notify users via a Twitter update or by email; nevertheless, as with changes to most websites’ terms of use, a user’s continued use of Twitter following such changes constitutes the user’s agreement to the modified terms.  It is important to keep in mind that changes in a social media site’s services or terms of use — even seemingly tiny changes in the way a social media profile appears to end-users, or in what flavors of activities are or are not permitted on the site — can wreak havoc on a company’s costly social media strategy.  Conveniently, Twitter provides an <a href="http://twitter.com/tos/previous">archive of previous versions</a> of its Terms of Service, which can help users spot changes over time more easily.Our message to end-users and developers alike remains what it was back in 2010:  be sure to carefully review social media services’ terms and conditions so that you know what you’re getting into, particularly when you will be investing money or time in using a service for your business or building an app or site that relies on the service’s content or functionality.