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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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.

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Lawrence W. Gallick

All Your Sale Are Belong to Us - Mitigating IP and Payments Risk in In-Game Economies (Part II – User-Generated Content and In-Game Payment Models)

A New California Digital Content Law Establishes New Requirements for Advertisers and Vendors

California’s Assembly Bill 587 Loses Key Provisions After Legal Challenge from X

Social Links: TikTok Tussles, Teen Privacy Push, and the Thumbs-Up That Sealed the Deal

Utah’s New App Store Age Verification Law: What S.B. 142 Means for Kids, Parents, and Tech

It’s often said that, when it comes to regulating technology, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/24/brad-smith-davos_n_6536580.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. laws aren’t up to speed</a>. That includes U.S. trusts and estates laws, which, in many cases, do not say much about what happens to your digital assets after you die.Unless you or your trustee lives in <a href="https://www.everplans.com/articles/state-by-state-digital-estate-planning-laws" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of the few states</a> that, like Delaware, has a <a href="http://www.legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis147.nsf/vwLegislation/HB%20345/$file/legis.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> that allows your executor to access your online accounts, your loved ones may have to follow the procedures set forth in social media platforms’ terms of use if they want to access your account after your death. (Alternatively, a deceased social-media-account holder’s survivors could <a href="http://www.deathanddigitallegacy.com/2012/06/01/familys-court-order-for-facebook/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seek a court order</a> granting them access to your social media accounts, but it’s a lengthy and not-always-successful process.)The fluid nature of the major social media platforms’ approach to handling deceased users’ accounts is illustrated by Facebook, which recently changed its policy to afford users more post-mortem control over their pages. The recent <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/02/12/facebook-policy-change-allows-one-final-post-after-death/23184757/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press coverage</a> of Facebook’s policy piqued our curiosity regarding how the major social media platforms address this issue. Below we summarize Facebook’s, Twitter’s, Instagram’s, Pinterest’s, LinkedIn’s and Google’s (including Google companies YouTube’s and Blogger’s) policies regarding management of deceased users’ accounts.Facebook: Allows users, while they’re alive, to designate a “legacy contact,” or elect to have the account deleted after they’ve diedFacebook recently changed its terms of service to allow the platform’s U.S. users to elect to have their accounts permanently deleted after they die, or to select a “<a href="http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/02/adding-a-legacy-contact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legacy contact</a>“— a family member or friend to whom Facebook will accord limited management of the user’s Facebook account after the user dies. Once a friend of the deceased user completes an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/651319028315841" target="_blank" rel="noopener">online form</a> notifying Facebook of the user’s death, Facebook will add the tagline “Remembering” over the user’s name and notify the legacy contact. The legacy contact may then: (1) download the photos and other information that the deceased shared on Facebook (if the deceased indicated that he or she would like to give the legacy contact that permission); (2) “write a post to display at the top of the memorialized Timeline (for example, to announce a memorial service or share a special message)”; (3) update the profile photo and cover photo; and (4) accept new friend requests on the deceased’s behalf.The legacy contact will not be able to access the deceased’s private messages or login as the deceased.Step-by-step instructions on how to designate a Facebook legacy contact are available <a href="http://lifehacker.com/how-to-set-up-a-facebook-legacy-contact-for-when-you-1685544248" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.Twitter: Offers only possible account deletion at the request of the deceased’s lawful representative or immediate family memberTwitter’s terms of use specifically <a href="https://support.twitter.com/articles/87894-how-to-contact-twitter-about-a-deceased-user" target="_blank" rel="noopener">provide</a> that the company is “unable to provide account access to anyone regardless of his or her relationship to the deceased.” Twitter will, however, “work with a person authorized to act on the behalf of the estate or with a verified immediate family member of the deceased to have an account deactivated.”To fulfill this request, the company requires significant proof of the requester’s relationship with the deceased, including a death certificate.Instagram: Offers to memorialize accounts upon proof of death; will only remove an account at a family member’s requestInstagram’s <a href="https://help.instagram.com/264154560391256/">policy</a> says that the company will heed a request to <a href="https://help.instagram.com/contact/452224988254813">memorialize</a> a deceased person’s account from anyone who provides proof of the death, such as a link to an obituary or a news article. The company will not provide anyone with login information for memorialized accounts. For Instagram to <a href="https://help.instagram.com/contact/1474899482730688">remove</a> a deceased person’s account, an immediate family member must make the request. Instagram’s policy requires that removal requesters prove their status as a member of the deceased’s immediate family by providing documents such as the deceased’s birth or death certificates, or “proof of authority under local law that you are the lawful representative of the deceased person, or his/her estate.”Pinterest: Offers only account deletion at the request of a family memberPinterest’s terms of use also state that, in the interest of the platform’s users’ privacy, the company won’t give out login information, but will “deactivate a deceased person’s account if a family member gets in touch with us.” True to Pinterest’s homey image, the company will accept less formal documentation of the requester’s relationship with the deceased, including a “family tree.”Of the terms of use that we examined, Pinterest’s were the only ones to offer condolences, stating, “We’re so very sorry to hear about the loss of your loved one.”LinkedIn: Offers only account deletion at the request of anyone with a relationship to the deceased and a link to the deceased’s obituaryLinkedIn’s terms of use <a href="https://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2842" target="_blank" rel="noopener">state</a> that the company will close the account and remove the profile of “a colleague, classmate, or loved one who has passed away” if the requester provides certain basic information and a link to the deceased’s obituary.Google+, YouTube, Blogger: Allows a user, while he or she is alive, to designate up to 10 people with whom Google will share the user’s data after the user has diedIn keeping with its reputation as an extremely progressive company, Google <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/04/11/google-lets-users-plan-digital-afterlife-by-naming-heirs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">since 2013</a> has allowed its social media platforms’ users a good measure of post-mortem control over their digital assets. Under <a href="http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2013/04/plan-your-digital-afterlife-with.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google’s terms of use</a>, which have been in place for the last couple of years, a user of  +1s, Blogger, Contacts and Circles, Drive, Gmail, Google+ Profiles, Pages and Streams, Picasa Web Albums, Google Voice and YouTube may select a time period of account inactivity—three, six, nine or 12 months—after which Google will fulfill the user’s wishes for the post-mortem disposition of his or her account (after first warning the user by sending a text message to his or her cellphone and an email to a secondary address that the user provided). At that point, Google will notify “up to 10 trusted friends” that the user’s account is inactive, and—if the user so chooses—share his or her data with all or some of those people.Users can also elect to have Google delete their accounts or set up an auto-response to all incoming messages once a user’s account becomes inactive.To instruct Google on what you’d like the company to do with your Google accounts and the data in them after you’ve died, go to the Account Settings page of the Google platform that you use, scroll down to the Account Tools subheading, and click on Inactive Account Manager.

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 Rubin

Who Will Update My Status When I’m Dead?: The Biggest Social Media Platforms’ Policies on Deceased-User Accounts

It’s often said that, when it comes to regulating technology, U.S. laws aren’t up to speed. That includes U.S. trusts and estates laws, which, in many cases, do

Who Will Update My Status When I’m Dead?: The Biggest Social Media Platforms’ Policies on Deceased-User Accounts

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J. Alexander Lawrence

With Highly Anticipated Copyright Decision, The AutoHop Litigation Is Coming to a Close