Socially Aware

May 08, 2020 - European Union, Influencer Marketing, Cyberbullying
Social Links: Online censorship in China; Florida legislation to thwart gang activity online; influencers criticized for breaking quarantine rules
By: Aaron P. Rubin
China’s “internet police,” who coordinate online censorship, have become especially busy since the coronavirus outbreak. Inspired by homicides that were precipitated by social media posts created by one group of teenagers to incite another, a Florida bill would allow law enforcement to charge juveniles
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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 24, 2019 - European Union
Youth Protection in Germany: Are Online Age Checks & Daytime Blackouts Ahead?
By: Andreas Grünwald and Christoph Nüßing
Last week, German regulators decided to no longer accept the widely used “JusProg” software as a sufficient means for online service providers to comply with statutory youth protection requirements. The decision is effective immediately, although it will most likely be challenged in court. If
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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 14, 2019 - European Union, Data Security, Privacy
The Cookie Wall Must Go Up. Or Not?
By: Alex van der Wolk and Mercedes Samavi
One of the next big items in Europe will be the expansion of “ePrivacy,” (which, among other things, regulates the use of cookies on websites). While the ePrivacy reform is still being worked on by EU lawmakers, one of the items the ePrivacy Regulation
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March 05, 2019 - European Union, User-Generated Content, Copyright
Time to Hit Pause: Copyright Infringement on User Generated Platforms – When Is the Platform Provider Liable for Damages?
By: Kristina Ehle and Stephan Kreß
In 2019, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) is expected to clarify one of the key open issues in EU copyright law: the extent to which online platforms such as YouTube can be liable for copyright infringement caused by user-generated content—content uploaded on to
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June 01, 2018 - Advertising, Blockchain, First Amendment, Artificial Intelligence, European Union, GDPR
Social Links: Laws affecting politicians using Twitter & tourists taking photos; the GDPR takes effect; lost Bitcoins
By: Aaron P. Rubin
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 viewing or responding to one of the
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March 18, 2018 - European Union
EU Regulation Reform—Unjustified Geo-Blocking to Be Phased Out by End of 2018
By: Alistair Maughan and Kristina Ehle
Geo-blocking is the practice of preventing Internet users in one jurisdiction from accessing services elsewhere based on the user’s geographic location. The European Commission wants to eliminate geo-blocking within the EU—and has taken a significant step forward in its plans to do so by
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January 23, 2018 - E-Commerce, European Union, Product Liability
Proceed To Check Out? The Impact Of 2018 European E-Commerce Reforms
By: Alistair Maughan, Kristina Ehle and Sana Ashcroft
The European Union (EU) has made reform of the e-commerce rules in Europe one of its main priorities for 2018. The European Commission has already published two proposed Directives relating to cross-border e-commerce but legislative progress has been slow—a situation that the Commission plans
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Topic Archives: European Union

Social Links: Online censorship in China; Florida legislation to thwart gang activity online; influencers criticized for breaking quarantine rules

By: Aaron P. Rubin

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

Youth Protection in Germany: Are Online Age Checks & Daytime Blackouts Ahead?

By: Andreas Grünwald and Christoph Nüßing

The EU Copyright Directive Passes – But Member States Remain Split on Upload Filters

By: Christiane Stuetzle and Patricia C. Ernst

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

The Cookie Wall Must Go Up. Or Not?

By: Alex van der Wolk and Mercedes Samavi

Time to Hit Pause: Copyright Infringement on User Generated Platforms – When Is the Platform Provider Liable for Damages?

By: Kristina Ehle and Stephan Kreß

Social Links: Laws affecting politicians using Twitter & tourists taking photos; the GDPR takes effect; lost Bitcoins

By: Aaron P. Rubin

EU Regulation Reform—Unjustified Geo-Blocking to Be Phased Out by End of 2018

By: Alistair Maughan and Kristina Ehle

Proceed To Check Out? The Impact Of 2018 European E-Commerce Reforms

By: Alistair Maughan, Kristina Ehle and Sana Ashcroft