Socially Aware

February 10, 2020 - Contracts, Web Scraping, Privacy, Copyright, Litigation
Clearview AI and the Legal Challenges Facing Facial Recognition Databases
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
Every day, social media users upload millions of images to their accounts; each day 350 million photos are uploaded to Facebook alone. Many social media websites make users’ information and images available to anyone with a web browser. The wealth of public information available
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December 20, 2019 - Terms of Use, Web Scraping, Ephemeral Messaging, User-Generated Content, Copyright, COPPA
2019: Our Greatest Hits
Here at Socially Aware we covered a wide range of issues in 2019. We reviewed an opinion reminding us that user-generated content posted on social media platforms is not necessarily freely available for use in other contexts , and a rare instance of a
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November 06, 2019 - DMCA, Copyright, IP, Litigation
Will the Music Industry Continue To Win Its Copyright Battle Against ISPs?
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
For the last twenty years, the music industry has been in a pitched battle to combat unauthorized downloading of music. Initially, the industry focused on filing lawsuits to shut down services that offered peer-to-peer or similar platforms, such as Napster , Aimster and Grokster.
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October 09, 2019 - Advertising, Copyright, Litigation
Insta-Mural Infringement: Public Art in Instagram Ad Leads to Copyright Claim
By: Aaron P. Rubin
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 copyright infringement claims based on use of photos pulled from Twitter. Claims
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August 20, 2019 - Copyright
The Meme Generation: Social Media Platforms Address Content Curation
By: Aaron P. Rubin
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 threatened if they fail to comply with
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August 02, 2019 - Copyright, Fair Use, IP, Litigation
By Winning Motion to Dismiss, Supermodel Loses Chance to Clarify Whether She Can Lawfully Post Photos of Herself to Social Media
By: Aaron P. Rubin
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 ownership of the photo failed to get
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June 11, 2019 - Advertising, First Amendment, European Union, Copyright, Free Speech, IP, Litigation
Social Links: Suit over “embedded tweet” with Tom Brady’s photo settles; brand agency manipulates Wikipedia; evidence from Instagram wins French rock star’s kids a share of his estate
By: Julie O'Neill
In March, Socially Aware reported on a lawsuit involving several prominent news outlets’ publication of a photo of NFL quarterback Tom Brady on Twitter. The case had the potential to upend a copyright and Internet-law rule that, in the words of a Forbes columnist
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May 15, 2019 - European Union, Copyright
The EU Copyright Directive Passes – But Member States Remain Split on Upload Filters
By: Christiane Stuetzle and Patricia C. Ernst
The Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (Directive) was finally approved by all EU legislative bodies on April 15, 2019. Introducing “modernizing EU copyright rules for European culture to flourish and circulate” was a key initiative of the European Commission’s Digital Single
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April 16, 2019 - Advertising, First Amendment, European Union, Influencer Marketing, Copyright, Free Speech, Compliance, Litigation
Social Links: An EU law to protect copyright owners online; collecting biometric data without running afoul of the law; influencers’ attempts to appear more authentic
By: Anthony M. Ramirez
A new law in Australia makes a social media company’s failure to remove “abhorrent violent material” from its platform punishable by significant fines. The law also states that the executives at social media companies who fail to remove the content could be sentenced to
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March 21, 2019 - Advertising, Class Actions, Copyright, Right of Publicity
What’s in a (User)Name?
By: Aaron P. Rubin
As consumers increasingly communicate and interact through social media platforms, courts have had to grapple with how to apply existing laws to new ways of communicating, as well as disseminating and using content. Sometimes, however, traditional legal standards apply to these new platforms in
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