#Trademarks?: Hashtags as Trademarks Revisited
Welcome to Socially Aware
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.
- Since our previous article on the emerging issue of trademark rights in hashtags , the use of hashtags in social media marketing has continued to grow. Described as the “ignition keys to a social media keyword search,” hashtags can be powerful tools for creating... ›
Social Links: Appeals court opinions show reach of anti-hacking law; a virtual reality sickness cure; intrigue at Vine
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The UK wants to use the blockchain to track the spending of welfare recipients. Some believe that a recent Ninth Circuit holding could turn sharing passwords into a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. And another Ninth Circuit opinion sided with... ›Social Links: Kids roll eyes as parents embrace Snapchat; teen sues Snapchat over sexual content; Snapchat to become less ephemeral with new “Memories” feature (plus some other news not involving Snapchat)
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Snapchat has caught on with “oldies” (that’s people 35 and older, FYI). Facebook Messenger is testing “Secret” mode, a feature that allows some messages to be read only by the recipient. A South Korean copy of Snapchat has taken off in Asia. Using social... ›Europe’s Right to Be Forgotten Spreads to Asia
In May 2014, in a decision attracting worldwide attention, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that a European individual’s privacy rights include the “right to be forgotten,” requiring Internet search engine providers to honor an individual’s request to remove certain search results relating... ›- - Mobile, Litigation
App Developer Prevails in Class Action Lawsuit Challenging Shift to New Business Model
By: Claudia M. Vetesi
If you make available a service through a free app, and you subsequently decide to migrate users of that app to a paid subscription model, that shouldn’t create any problems, right? Well, app developer LogMeIn did just that, and became the target of a... › Social Links: Implications of Facebook’s algorithm change; branded emoji; free travel apps
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The Internet is abuzz over the Facebook algorithm change. Here are the implications for marketers and publishers and for regular users. U.S. Customs wants to start collecting the social media accounts for foreign travelers. Court: Woman fired for posting to her Facebook page that... ›Brexit: Data Protection Implications
As the entire world knows, the United Kingdom has voted by a narrow majority to leave the European Union (“Brexit”). But the Brexit process will take time, and the implications for businesses will also unfold over time. In this blog post, we take a look... ›Social Links: Livestreaming goes mainstream; social-media-use guidance for judges; three years in jail for trolling?
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Facebook signs more than $50 million worth of deals with media firms and celebrities to create videos for its live-streaming service. Tumblr is jumping on the live video bandwagon, too—but via live-streaming platform partners, not through its own service. C-Span picked up live feeds... ›The Kirtsaeng Opinion: Supreme Court Guidance on Attorneys’ Fees Awards in Copyright Cases
Recently, in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. , the U.S. Supreme Court provided substantial guidance in an unsettled area of law by holding that, when deciding whether to award attorneys’ fees under 17 U.S.C. §505 , the Copyright Act’s fee-shifting provision, a... ›Social Links: The ramifications of Microsoft’s LinkedIn purchase; the brands using Snapchat; lawyers’ social media use
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Lots of press surrounding Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn: Will LinkedIn change as a result? Will the Microsoft purchase inspire a Twitter acquisition ? “Spam King” gets 30 months in jail for sending 27 million messages. One columnist says you should stop measuring your social... ›