Pitfalls of crowdsourced legal services from social media platforms

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on May 19, 2023 Posted in General

Common diatribes levied against the market for legal services typically take aim at the hourly fees, the complexity of the justice system, and the exclusivity of bona fide legal advice as a covetous but inaccessible resource. Access to legal services is not a new problem – and is no stranger to legislative reform. For decades, … Continue reading

Misappropriation of confidential information

By Susan Ross (US) on March 14, 2023 Posted in General

On February 8, 2023, a federal trial court in New Jersey ruled that login credentials were a trade secret and also addressed the concept of “misappropriation of confidential information,” in a case where one party was accused of locking the other party out of its own social media pages.  CLI Interactive, LLC v. Diamond Phil’s, … Continue reading

Synthetic data: A potential solution to the de-identification problem

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on February 21, 2023 Posted in Privacy

The risk of privacy breaches using large data sets of personal information is only increasing with advancements in data processing and artificial intelligence (AI). With any large-scale manipulation of personal data by organizations, there is potential for misuse or disclosure of protected personal information. For instance, AI and machine learning systems necessitate vast quantities of … Continue reading

Ninth Circuit joins Eleventh Circuit holding that social media marketers of financial products may be liable as sellers under Securities Law

By Paul Guirguis (US) on January 20, 2023 Posted in Litigation

               The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently issued an opinion in Pino v. Cardone Capital, LLC that followed the Eleventh Circuit ruling in Wildes v. BitConnect (see our March, 2022 post on that case here: Social media and cryptocurrency fraud), when it held that if a person promotes the sale … Continue reading

Photo backgrounds and copyright infringement

By Susan Ross (US) on January 5, 2023 Posted in Copyright

Many companies post photos on social media in order to promote their businesses.  A recent federal court ruling demonstrates how simple it is to become subject to a copyright infringement lawsuit because of the background of the photo.  (Petersen v. Diesel Power Gear LLC, No. 1:21-cv-08827 (SDA) (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 21, 2022) (2022 WL 17832314).) Background … Continue reading

Who owns the content created by ChatGPT?

By Nerushka Bowan on December 30, 2022 Posted in General

Suppose you decided to use ChatGPT to create your next social media post.  Who owns the content?  You do! (Or your employer in certain situations) According to the OpenAI terms of use, OpenAI assigns to you all right, title and interest to the output generated and returned by its services. These services include ChatGPT (a … Continue reading

Marketing in the Metaverse facing regulatory limbo

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on November 21, 2022 Posted in General

The metaverse is an elusive concept, but can be broadly described as a rapidly growing extension of the tendrils of the internet, redefining what constitutes social media. As an ever-growing and immersive network of technologies, the metaverse attempts to close the gap between society and the media that serves as its vehicle. As it exists … Continue reading

Photos and Social Media

By Susan Ross (US) on October 19, 2022 Posted in Copyright

We have previously written on how expensive it can be to copy photos found on social media and use them for commercial purposes, as a result of copyright infringement claims.  On October 3, 2022, the Ninth Circuit explored a few more copyright issues, specifically:  who can bring the lawsuit, who controls social media pages, and … Continue reading

Bill C-27: Proposed legislation to regulate artificial intelligence and strengthen privacy law in Canada

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on September 20, 2022 Posted in Privacy

By Dan Daniele Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022 seeks to bring “safety and trust” to the forefront of Canada’s evolving digital sphere, according to  the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Francois-Philippe Champagne, who introduced this bill on June 16, 2022. Bill C-27 promises to update and strengthen Canadian privacy law, govern … Continue reading

Influencer’s location = jurisdiction for tortious interference case

By Susan Ross (US) on August 16, 2022 Posted in General

On August 5, 2022, a federal trial court in Ohio ruled that the location of a social media influencer meant that jurisdiction was proper for a tortious interference with contract lawsuit brought against the influencer and alleged interferers, even though one of the defendants had only been to Ohio once, five years ago.  EHPLabs Research, … Continue reading