jasmine vegas conf final

Marketing+Sales+Communication+Legal = Social Strategy

© 2012 Foley Hoag LLP. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Foley Hoag LLP. All Rights Reserved. @JasmineDecarie 2

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Any correspondence with this presenter does not constitute a attorney/client relationship.

Copyright © 2012 Foley Hoag LLP. All rights reserved. We’re serious.


Source: Fred Cavazza.net

AwarenessAwareness

InterestInterest

DesireDesire

HireHire

MARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONSSOCIAL MEDIA

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL MEDIA


For the majority of us, social media is just nothing more than a faster way to screw up in front of a larger number of people in a shorter amount of time.

- Peter Shankman

@petershankman

“

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Today’s Reality

Almost every company is focused on leveraging social media to sell

Social media can build your brand but it can also destroy it

Just because you see people engaged in certain conduct online or in social media does not mean it is legal


Platform Differences

Existing laws apply equally to online and offline conduct – platform does not matter

– If you defame someone online, you can be liable in the same manner as if you defamed them in traditional media

– Ditto for intellectual property infringement and misappropriation


Who Handles Social Media?

Internal Management– Law firms love to assign it to the junior, just out of college marketing

team member “He/she is young they know all about ‘The Facebook’”

– What they do not know about law, business savvy, company culture and overall strategy could kill your brand

External Management – PR Firm model– Have more time and they have more knowledge of social strategy than

you may have internally

– If you do not have a strong contract in place that covers everything, you could have a problem. Plus, how do they really know the company culture and day to day strategy nuances


This is not This is not Rocket Rocket ScienceScience


Everyday News = Social Gaffes


Respondeat Superior Applies to Social!

If comments are made from a company’s Facebook or Twitter feed, be wary

Respondeat Superior

Latin: “Let the master answer”

A legal doctrine which states that, in many circumstances, an employer is responsible for the actions of employees performed within the course of their employment.


Defamation

Slander and libel are false or malicious claims that may harm someone's reputation

– Libel: a false, malicious statement published in mainstream media

– Slander: a false, malicious spoken statement


What Happens in Vegas…

Can legally live forever on the internet in some cases

Note and understand differences in ownership rights and license grants under LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter

– LinkedIn: Users grant BROAD irrevocable license to copy, derivative works of, publish, commercialize, etc. in any way now known or in the future discovered... without any further consent, notice and/or compensation to you or to any third parties” with respect to all submitted content.

– Twitter: Users free to take down content; no grant to Twitter.

– Facebook: “For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.”


External Social Media Policy

Generally no liability for statements made by “Commenters”– However from a brand perspective you may

want to remove posts

Digital Millennium Copyright Act– Take-down policy should be explicit and

followed faithfully

– Register the DMCA Agent with the US Copyright Office


Transparency is Key

False Advertising and FTC Blogger Rules- Blogger must disclose any benefits received in exchange for

promotion

- Blogger and advertiser can be liable

Declare where you work


EU Consumer Data Issues

COPPA – Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

Do you need an Age Gate?


Intellectual Property Infringement

Use copyrighted works only with a proper license

– Willful Infringement: triple damages and attorneys’ fees

– Generally no liability for re-tweeting a copyrighted image

– You don’t need to register your © works with the US Copyright Office in order to enjoy copyright protection

Creative Commons (www.creativecommons.org)

– Images and Works are still subject to license terms

Right of Publicity: Even if you have a license to display an image, you may also need consent from the subject of the image

Unauthorized Use of Trademarks: References to company name versus use of TM or logo


Content Ownership

All employees and service providers should assign intellectual property rights to the Company by contract

You don’t need to register your © works with the US Copyright Office in order to enjoy copyright protection


Finally

If your social media policy, internal and external was not developed in connection with your legal department, go back and change that

If HR was not involved in drafting the policy they should be – Educate on how HR can enforce social media policy

– Learn how and when social media can be used for recruiting research

All contracts with any and all social media companies, consultant’s, moonlighters, tweet generators etc. need to be reviewed by legal

– Company owns and secures all accounts

– Company owns all content

– Ensure you rapidly lock out personnel who are fired or leave regardless of circumstances

©2012 Foley Hoag LLP. All Rights Reserved. @JasmineDecarie 22© 2012 Foley Hoag LLP. All Rights Reserved.

Jasmine Trillos-Decarie

Director of Marketing & Business Development

Foley Hoag LLP

@JasmineDecarie

[email protected]

Thank you!

jasmine vegas conf final

Business

intellectual

enjoy copyright

social media

copyright

rights reserved

ip content

company culture

company owns