Almost everything in social media pushes the limit of existing intellectual property law. Be sure not to copy anything if you have doubt. Use quote marks, citations, and links to original source. Remember, you cant legally use extended content from somone else’s web site, social media page or blog on your own site. If you do, make sure you send a permission request form to use their content. This will protect you from future legal trouble if the person/company’s content you used permits you from using it. Trademarks and logos usually require permission to use, though the logos that social media companies provide for Share This or Follow Us On functionality are fine to use without permission. If you find something in the Press or Media section of a company’s website, you can assume that you can reproduce that image. For instance, I use freedigitalphotos.net and always make sure I provide my source for images.
A disclaimer stating that user info is private is very important nowadays. Privacy online has become a critical subject today with the Google’s and Facebook’s of the world scrambling to fully explain and simplify their agreements. Especially if your site connects to third party sites or is a third party site. Respect a person’s space and don’t use public viewable photos of peoples faces on your social media page unless you have their permission. A simple photo waiver will take care of this.
A few legal sites that will help you are:
- http://www.abanet.org/intelprop/home.html
- http://www.copyright.gov
- http://www.eff.org
- http://www.ilrg.com
- http://www.womma.org/ethics/disclosure
Three important aspects come to mind for protecting your brand online. They are copyright, trademark and brand rep.
When it comes to copyright, you work becomes your intellectual property once its created in a fixed form. Protect your own work and dont use other work without permission. If you decide to subcontract your social media work, be sure to know who owns the work being on the site. Your company agreement should also state that anything an employee creates for you is retained by the company. The last thing is to put a copyright sign on your website that clearly states your intentions for people visiting.
Trademarks or service marks give you an exclusive right to use a name or logo within a specific commercial category. Provide a notice of trademark somewhere on your social media site. For more info on trademarks go to http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks.
Brand reputation starts with registering your name for social media accounts. Use a handle that will work across multiple accounts and sites. Even if you dont attend to use all social media sites for your company or brand, register the name on all so no one could use your brand maliciously later on or if you decide to use that site in the future. There are sites today that measure the quality of your brand online and assess engagement with your brand from various sites. This can be helpful when evaluating your brand presence online.
Till Next Time,
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Randall J
Randall Jefferson 