Socially Aware

April 25, 2017 - Copyright, IP, Litigation
Limiting Statutory Damages in Internet Copyright Cases
By: Paul Goldstein and Joyce Liou
One of the most significant legal concerns for Internet service providers is the risk of exposure to liability for the copyright infringements of their users. The concern is not unreasonable. Because Internet service providers can be held secondarily liable for the infringements of their
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April 20, 2017 - DMCA, European Union, Marketing, Privacy, Copyright, Section 230 Safe Harbor, Mobile, Litigation
Now Available: The April Issue of Our Socially Aware Newsletter
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The latest issue of our Socially Aware newsletter is now available here. In this edition, we explore the threat to U.S. jobs posed by rapid advances in emerging technologies; we examine a Federal Trade Commission report on how companies engaging in cross-device tracking can stay on
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April 14, 2017 - Advertising, topics/undefined, Copyright, Free Speech
Social Links: Burger King ad triggers Google Assistant devices; suits allege infringement of copyrights in content posted to social media; Twitter’s hidden “dislike” button
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Without Google’s permission, Burger King ended one of its television commercials with a statement designed to automatically cause Google Assistant devices to read a list of the Whopper’s ingredients out loud. Having passed the 1.2-billion-user mark, Facebook Messenger is now twice as popular as
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April 04, 2017 - Endorsement Guides, Copyright, Employment Law
Social Links: Instagram makes it easy to label content as “sponsored”; Facebook combats fake news; better firefighting through drones
By: Aaron P. Rubin
A court ruled that a particular 98-character tweet wasn’t sufficiently creative to warrant protection under German copyright law. Inspired by a recording posted to Snapchat of a physical attack on a 14-year-old boy, a California bill would make it illegal to “willfully record a
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March 28, 2017 - Trademark, Copyright, IP, Litigation
Supreme Court Rules Cheerleading Uniform Designs Are Copyrightable
By: Jennifer Lee Taylor
On March 22, 2017, the Supreme Court held in Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands that design elements of cheerleading uniforms may be protected under the Copyright Act. The 6-2 decision, written by Justice Thomas, clarified the scope of protection afforded to clothing designs
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December 05, 2016 - DMCA, topics/undefined, Copyright
New Copyright Office Rule Creates Potential “Gotcha” for Blogs and Websites Hosting User-Generated Content
If your company operates a website or blog that hosts user-generated content, you’ll want to read this post carefully. We’re ringing the alarm bell on an important new U.S. copyright law development that, if ignored, could significantly increase your company’s potential liability exposure in
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August 10, 2016 - DMCA, Terms of Use, Copyright, IP
Commercializing User-Generated Content: Five Risk Reduction Strategies
By: Anthony M. Ramirez
We’re in the midst of a seismic shift in how companies interact with user-generated content (UGC). For years, companies were happy simply to host UGC on their websites, blogs and social media pages and reap the resulting boost to their traffic numbers. And U.S.
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July 12, 2016 - Advertising, Digital Content, Online Promotions, Copyright, Employment Law
Now Available: The July Issue of Our Socially Aware Newsletter
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The latest issue of our Socially Aware newsletter is now available here. In this issue of Socially Aware , our Burton Award winning guide to the law and business of social media, we take a look at courts’ efforts to evaluate emoticons and emojis
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June 23, 2016 - Copyright, Litigation
The Kirtsaeng Opinion: Supreme Court Guidance on Attorneys’ Fees Awards in Copyright Cases
By: Michael A. Jacobs
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
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May 03, 2016 - Copyright
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Jurisdiction: No “Situs of Injury” Merely Because Copyrighted Material Is Accessible
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
Because content posted online can be accessed nearly anywhere, courts regularly face the issue of whether they have personal jurisdiction over a defendant who posted material to the web or a social media site. Recently, one New York federal court held that the mere fact,
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