Twenty-five years ago, words like Twitter and Snapchat didn’t exist. Fast forward to today, these powerful platforms promise big rewards and sometimes even bigger social media legal risks. If your business wants to succeed in this new frontier, you need to know how the law applies to your online use so that you can avoid costly social media legal risks.
As a social media law firm, we like to break these risks down into three main categories: compliance, intellectual property, and Internet law. Allow us to break these down into plain English:
Compliance
We are taught from a young age that we must follow the rules, and if we don’t, we face consequences. That’s compliance. As children, refusing to follow the the rules could mean missing recess or being put into timeout. As a business, you can be sued, arrested or have your social media accounts shut down. Clearly, the stakes are a bit higher.
For example, there is an entire body of law that governs social media compliance for banks. In other words, a bank may want to promote a new credit card by targeting high net worth individuals in a certain geographic area on Facebook. This may seem like a great idea to the marketing department but could cause a heart attack to bank compliance officers who fear this practice may violate the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and subject the bank to serious fines and regulations. A social media lawyer who understands social media compliance for banks can help keep the institution out of trouble.
Intellectual property
Real property is the land where you house sits. It has value. Tangible property are things you can touch, like a vintage baseball card, which also has value. Intellectual property are things you can’t touch, like a trademark or a copyright, but they tremendous value. Don’t believe us? Consider this:
How much is a sneaker worth? It’s got some leather, some rubber, and in most cases some laces. The materials couldn’t cost more than a few dollars. But now slap the name Nike on it, and that shoe is worth at least a hundred dollars (and probably more these days). The name Nike is a trademark, which is a type of intellectual property that protects names, logos, and slogans (like Just Do It!). If Nike makes a commercial to promote their shoe, the commercial is likely protected by another type of intellectual property called a copyright – which protects creative works. So, what does this have to do with social media?
Twenty-five years ago, it would take someone a ton of time and money to infringe on Nike’s intellectual property. They’d have to manufacture a ton of similar looking shoes, slap on a fake Nike logo, sign a lease, stock inventory, and sell their knockoffs at a competitive rate. This takes time, money, and effort. Now that social media is taking over, someone could sell the same knockoff sneakers in a matter minutes by setting up a Facebook page, targeting Nike’s followers, and running ads. It’s therefore incredibly important that businesses work with an experienced trademark attorney that understands how social media law applies to trademarks, copyrights, and online businesses.
Internet law
Want to run an online giveaway? Awesome. Want to be sued for not following the rules? Not awesome. Social media sweepstakes laws are highly complicated. They require you to include specific language that sets forth who is eligible, how contestants can enter, how winners are selected, and many other legal requirements. A social media sweepstakes lawyer can help you put them together and save you a massive headache.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Why should I spend a bunch of money on a social media contests lawyer when I can just find the rules online and hire an influencer to promote the giveaway?” Not a bad idea, until you either (a) violate copyright law by stealing someone else’s terms, (b) use the wrong terms that can get you into deeper legal trouble, or (c) violate influencer laws. Yes, influencer laws are a thing – and violated the Federal Trade Commission’s Truth-in-Advertising laws could cost you over $15,000 per violation. NOW it makes a lot more sense to consider an influencer law firm, doesn’t it?
As a social media law firm, we enjoy helping to protect and grow businesses that use social media and avoid social media legal risks. We hope you found this overview helpful, and feel free to contact us today if you have any questions on how social media law applies to your business.
