Tag archives: Twitter

A two pronged prescription: The FDA releases new social media guidelines

Photo of Jay Greathouse (US)By Jay Greathouse (US) on Posted in Social media policies
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released two new sets of guidance regarding the use of social media to disseminate information about prescription drugs and medical devices.  This guidance supplements years of FDA warning letters and untitled letters sent to manufacturers, packers or distributors in regulated industries (each a “Regulated Entity”).  We have previously discussed … Continue reading

A picture can be worth a thousand links

Photo of Daniel Daniele (CA)By Daniel Daniele (CA) on Posted in Copyright, Employment and labor, Privacy, Social media policies
From giant billboards on the highway to tiny pictures that can go viral within seconds, the use of social media sites like Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr has revolutionized the advertising industry. Companies can now reach their target audiences more quickly and more effectively by taking advantage of instantaneous posting of pictures and blogs. The use … Continue reading

Do you “like” it?

Photo of Daniel Daniele (CA)By Daniel Daniele (CA) on Posted in Security, Social media policies
From clicking “like” on Facebook to the +1 button on Google+ to the “Follow” or “Retweet” buttons on Twitter, the use of endorsements in social media has exploded since 2009. “Like” buttons and retweeting are growing trends in social media.  While the use of third-party endorsement type functionality in social media has obvious benefits in … Continue reading

Beware of the threatening tweet

Photo of Seth Jaffe (US)By Seth Jaffe (US) on Posted in Litigation, Social media policies
Early April saw the arrest of a 14-year-old girl who sent a threatening tweet aimed at American Airlines.  Tweeting under her own account, this girl, identified only as Sarah, posted “hello my name’s Ibrahim and I’m from Afghanistan. I’m part of Al Qaida and on June 1st I’m gonna do something really big bye.”  American … Continue reading

FDA and Facebook: Back to basics

Photo of Jay Greathouse (US)By Jay Greathouse (US) on Posted in Social media policies
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has issued numerous Warning and Untitled Letters[1] delving into very specific aspects of social media (such as “likes” on Facebook, tweets on Twitter and posts on Tumblr,  collectively, the “Social Media Letters”).  Recently, the FDA warned a drug manufacturer and its agent that even the “About Us” or … Continue reading

Social media: did you know?

Photo of Nerushka BowanBy Nerushka Bowan on Posted in Privacy, Security, Social media policies
How many of us actually read social media terms of use? Be wary: you allow public information to be accessible over public search engines. When you tweet you: grant Twitter a licence to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute content in any manner or method. Twitter may sublicense these rights … Continue reading

IP enforcement via takedown notices

By on Posted in Trademark
According to a January 22, 2014 ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, an incorrectly-chosen takedown notice may constitute a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). CrossFit and its DMCA takedown notice In Crossfit, Inc. v. Alvies, plaintiff CrossFit, Inc. brought a trademark infringement action against Jenni Alvies … Continue reading

A Retrospective of Social Media Law Blog

By Norton Rose Fulbright Patents on Posted in General
It’s been a full year since we launched the Social Media Law blog, and we thought it was a good time to take a moment to review: General Counsel use of social media continues to grow at an impressive rate Our Social Media Law blog has had visitors from 15 countries around the world The … Continue reading

Agence France Presse v. Morel – 2nd update

By on Posted in Litigation
We have written previously about a court opinion relating to photos posted on Twitter, in Agence France Presse v. Morel, the opinion of which was issued in January. The relevant facts from the case are as follows: Agence France Presse (“AFP”) provided photographer Daniel Morel’s copyrighted images to Getty Images (US), Inc. (“Getty”), who then … Continue reading

Social media part 3: leveraging social media data analytics to improve M&A

By NRF Digital Team on Posted in General
Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+,Tumblr, Slideshare… The catalogue of popular social networking sites continues to grow as more and more consumers – both individual and corporate – sign-up by the millions. But how can social media be used to bolster M&A? In addition to the fairly obvious answer that social media can be … Continue reading

Social media part 2: the proof is in the data analytics

By NRF Digital Team on Posted in General
Part 1 of our series on social media looked at how new technologies have started infiltrating the M&A landscape. But the question we aim to answer here is: to what end? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal considered just that, noting that new technologies – and specifically data analytic technologies – can be used at various stages throughout the … Continue reading

Social media part 1: how technology is changing M&A

By NRF Digital Team on Posted in General
Earlier this year, the MIT Sloan Management Review published a research report summarizing the findings of its global executive study on social business. The study canvassed 2,545 respondents from 25 industries and 99 countries, all of whom were involved in corporate development decisions at their respective organizations. The aim of the study was to determine how new technologies have … Continue reading

Chances Are, Companies Will ‘Like’ Facebook’s New Contest Rules

By on Posted in Social media policies
In addition to laws regulating sweepstakes, contests, and the prizes given in such promotions, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, each have their own written policies regarding running promotions and contests on their websites.  If marketers are non-compliant with these rules, they can risk having their contest or promotion removed, resulting in lost … Continue reading

Corporate Governance: Cyber Security Issues (Part II)

Photo of Jay Greathouse (US)By Jay Greathouse (US) on Posted in Security, Social media policies
There are three distinct aspects of cyber-security that should be addressed by directors: prevention, detection and, if a company is publicly traded, disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Part I of our posting addressed prevention and detection matters. This Part II addresses disclosures and some questions to consider. Disclosure Public disclosure of a security … Continue reading

Corporate Governance: Cyber Security Issues (Part I)

Photo of Jay Greathouse (US)By Jay Greathouse (US) on Posted in Security, Social media policies
The use of cloud computing, mobile devices and social media add significant corporate risks beyond the traditional security risks arising from networks, databases and e-mail.  A cyber security breach can cause serious operational disruptions, create financial costs and damage a company’s brand and reputation.  As part of risk management, a company’s board of directors should … Continue reading

Social media companies adopt alternative patent models

Photo of Maya MedeirosBy Maya Medeiros on Posted in Patent, Social media policies
Social media companies are increasingly involved in patent lawsuits and frustration is setting in. Hoping to inspire change within the industry, a number of companies have adopted alternative patent policies. While these alternative models are based on the social good of sharing innovation with a promise to use patents only as a defensive shield and … Continue reading

Shared Social Media Accounts

Photo of James Leito IV (US)By James Leito IV (US) on Posted in Employment and labor
A court in the Eastern District of Texas recently held that two companies were “integrated employers” under the Family Medical Leave Act, in part, because the two companies shared a Facebook page. Dooling v. Bank of the West, No. 4:11-cv-00576 (E.D. Tex. July 17, 2013) (Bush, Mag. J.). This conclusion allowed the plaintiff to establish her … Continue reading

Agence France Presse v. Morel – UPDATE

By on Posted in Copyright
Earlier this year, we wrote about a court opinion relating to photos posted on Twitter, in Agence France Presse v. Morel, the opinion of which was issued in January. The case, it appears, has come back to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, this time to determine the precise … Continue reading

The Rise of the #Hashtag

Photo of Daniel Daniele (CA)By Daniel Daniele (CA) on Posted in Defamation, Trademark
Every day, hundreds of millions of people use social media to share their thoughts about everything that is happening around them. The most popular social media sites do not have simple ways to search for and organize content, so users turned to the hashtag to solve the problem. Hashtags are words or phrases prefixed with the … Continue reading

Copyright Safe Harbor for Third-Party Content

Photo of Seth Jaffe (US)By Seth Jaffe (US) on Posted in Copyright
Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides a safe harbor for online service providers that allow users to self-post content. For companies with Web 2.0 enabled sites, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) limits liability “for infringement of copyright by reason of the storage at the direction of a user.”  But this safe harbor … Continue reading

Social Media Service, Minors, and Photos

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in COPPA, Privacy, Security
On July 10, 2013, U.S. Representative John Duncan (R-Tenn.) and co-sponsor Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) introduced H.R. 2645, the “Forbidding Advertisement Through Child Exploitation Act of 2013.” The stated purpose of this short bill is to “prohibit providers of social media services from using self-images uploaded by minors for commercial purposes.” Under the bill, a “social … Continue reading
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