Social Media Legal Issues

third party platform considerations

Venkat Balasubramani (@VBalasubramani)

August 12, 2010
Third Party Platforms

2
Terms of Use
When you sign up for an account you are agreeing to a set of
terms.

• terms of use may affect your social media efforts

• agreement to bring claims in home court
• promotions guidelines – Facebook and Twitter both have them
• spam and unsolicited email guidelines
• terms may regulate account use (what you can have in the
name, how many accounts you can have, posting multiple l
inks etc.)

3
Content/Ownership Considerations
The applicable terms of service may grant the platform a license
to your content.

• watermarking your content is always a good idea

• put a copyright notice on your content

4
Content/Ownership Considerations
Do not download and widely use images or content from
platforms such as TwitPic and Flickr unless you clear them first. [
link]

5
Takedowns
Platforms typically have notice & takedown procedures (DMCA)
whereby they’ll remove content in response to requests from a
copyright owner.
• familiarize yourself with the takedown and counter-notice process
(e.g., you give a counter-notice to put the content back up)

• entire blogs have been taken off-line by service providers

6
Squatting
Twitter Squatting – does not seem to be a significant issue.
• it is worth registering names/accounts across platforms preemptively 

7
Squatting
All service providers have their own dispute resolution policies (which
can be effective). 
• it’s difficult to hold the service provider liable (e.g., La Russa v. Twitter)
• Twitter’s Trademark Policy

8
Building Apps
Similar issues as with respect to content.
 platforms can censor or pull apps at their discretion

9
Account Termination
Most platforms have the right to terminate your account leaving
you little recourse.
• Online Game Network Isn't Company Town -- Estavillo v. Sony
• Facebook can terminate your account if it wants

10
Account Termination
Possible workarounds:

• have alternate means of contacting your customers or fans

• save any content you think is valuable elsewhere
(archive blog posts, etc.)
• publish / interact simultaneously across multiple platforms
(don’t put all your eggs into one platform basket!)

11
FTC Guidelines
FTC issued endorsement guidelines

• disclosure of free products, compensation, and relationships

• company being endorsed has responsibility to enforce
• The FTC’s Revised Endorsement Guides – FTC FAQ

12
Regulated Industries
Regulated industries receive special treatment:

• financial/health industries (etc.)

• FDA Tells Novartis That 'Facebook Sharing' Widget On Its Site
Violates Drug Ad Rules

13
@VBalasubramani

http://www.focallaw.com
venkat@focallaw.com