Social Media Law Update : Intellectual Property, Advertising and Video Game Law: Sheppard Mullin Lawyers & Attorneys

By Rachel Tarko Hudson

Pinterest has seen its number of daily visitors increase by 145 percent since the beginning of 2012, now counting 11 million users on its site, according to recent reports. It is a powerful social media tool by any standard, however, in recent months, with its meteoric rise, concerns have also surfaced about potential copyright issues. Needless to say, companies are clamoring to gain access to this vast and ever increasing pool of users, but they should (and can) proceed with caution in order to stay on the right side of the copyright issues.

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By Michelle Sherman

Digital media theft or piracy, as it is more commonly called, is a serious and pervasive problem with countries taking different approaches to address it. It is estimated that copyright piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods costs US creators and producers billions of dollars every year.

Click here to read the full article as published in the Journal of Internet Law.

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By Michelle Sherman

The exponential growth of the internet is also seeing an increase in the number of legal actions against “John Doe” defendants. John Doe is really synonymous with an anonymous speaker (blogger), who may be liable for claims such as copyright infringement, trademark infringement, or defamation. Fortunately, there is guidance from the courts so your company can increase its chances of identifying these anonymous bloggers, if necessary.
 

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By Michelle Sherman

It is not enough in a post-WikiLeaks world to hope that an admonition not to disclose sensitive company information in a social media policy will be enough. If company trade secrets are posted on the Internet they cannot be taken back, and if newsworthy, they will go viral. A perfect example of this is the prototype 4G iPhone that was mistakenly left in a Redwood City bar by an Apple software engineer celebrating his birthday. The iPhone ended up a few days later with Gizmodo, a tech website, that dismantled the smart phone, and shared its features in a blog article that quickly ended up with over 13 million views. In the case of WikiLeaks, it is reported that the 100,000s of pages of highly sensitive government documents were copied onto a Lady Gaga CD and leaked with disastrous results and world changing ramifications.
 

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By Jessica Kantor

Whether iPhone, blackberry, or droid, the smartphone has become the modern day Swiss Army knife. Now, with the help of these ubiquitous gadgets, artists, collectors and institutions are modernizing the ways in which to interact with art. With a swipe of a finger, one can bid on a work at auction; finger paint with the “brushes” app; or even quelle horreur view Mona Lisa on the Louvre’s app!  While the smartphone will never (nor should it) take the place of pencils, brushes and paints entirely, digital media can be used thoughtfully to give useful shape to the art of the present. Moving forward with digitization, it is important for creative organizations to consider the key intellectual property concerns at issue when developing an iPhone app. By considering each of these issues in concert with skilled legal counsel as necessary, the art community will be well on its way to avoiding the most common and costly legal mistakes. 
 

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By Riaz Karamali

The last installment of this blog series discussed when the creators of a new social media venture should take the step of formally incorporating their venture. This post will look at some key questions that often arise prior to incorporation.
 

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By Ted Max

Brands have life cycles and the brands that create a credible emotional connection with the consumer are likely to be able to demand higher consideration and maintain brand loyalty. One must consider what legal protections to employ and which pitfalls to avoid in building a strong and evolving brand in light of the key trends for branding in the New Millennium.
 

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By Michelle Sherman

As a matter of course, we automatically Google someone, something, anything, in search of more information. In courtrooms, the attorneys choosing a jury are going beyond the information provided in the courtroom. One judge tried to stop the practice, and a court of appeal held that there was nothing wrong with it.
 

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