Math Castle by Gabriel Molina from Flickr (Creative Commons License)
Earlier this week I did an interview for Casual Fridays with Tyler Anderson about social media law. I had a great time talking about copyright, trademark, and the FTC rules that apply to social media and the internet in general.
Whenever I do a Q&A on social media law, I tend to get the same types questions over and over again:
- Can I use any image I find online if I give an attribution and a link to the original? What if I’m not making money off it?
- I just want to use 10 seconds of a song. Is that ok?
- If someone sends me a photo, I own it, right? I can do anything I want with it, right?
- How much do I have to change someone else’s work to qualify for fair use?
As I listened to Tyler’s questions, I realized that he and most social media marketers and entrepreneurs are looking for clear answers. They want things to be as black-and-white as possible, but unfortunately the law is filled with shades of gray, especially in emerging area of law where the technology is advancing faster than the law can keep up.
The best a person can do is to be aware of the basics of copyright, trademark, contract, and privacy laws and assume that there are no easy answers to their questions, even when it seems simple. I also recommend that business owners meet with their lawyers once a year (just like you meet with your accountant) to review their business and standards of practice to make sure that your business is in compliance with the law.
If you want more information about social media law, please check out my book The Legal Side of Blogging: How Not to get Sued, Fired, Arrested, or Killed. If you want to chat with me, you can contact me directly or connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or LinkedIn.