IP Issues & Social Media - Look Before You Tweet
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Transcript of IP Issues & Social Media - Look Before You Tweet
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IT‐CANFRASER MILNER CASGRAIN LLP
OCTOBER 6, 2010
IP ISSUES AND SOCIAL MEDIA:LOOK BEFORE YOU TWEET
Presented by: Rob McDonaldPartner, Co-chair FMC National IP Group
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TOP TEN TWITTER BRANDS(Sample during a three day period in April 2009)
1. Starbucks 3.37 millions mentions2. Google, 1.01 million mentions3. BBC, 703,000 mentions4. Apple, 512,000 mentions5. AIG, 455,000 mentions6. Amazon, 245,000 mentions7. Microsoft, 221,000 mentions8. The Guardian, 211,000 mentions9. Dell, 185,000 mentions10. Coca Cola, 135,000 mentions
Note: ‐ Dell generated 1 million dollars by alerting Twitter followers to sale items over the Christmas break.‐ Many businesses offer exclusive discounts to Twitter followers‐ Recent studies suggest only 2% of all companies use Twitter and that only 7 of the top 100 brands names are
registered as a Twitter I.D.
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TOP TEN TWITTER ACCOUNTSFollowers
1. Lady Gaga 6,634,1982. Britney Spears 6,088,7103. Ashton Kucher 5,890,3214. Justin Bieber 5,591,9625. Barack Obama 5,586,3156. Ellen DeGeneres 5,316,4117. Kim Kardashian 5,002,0668. Oprah Winfrey 4,362,6299. Taylor Swift 4,358,65210.Katy Perry 4,148,441
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TWITTER SQUATTING (User Name Squatting)
• Like domain name cyber‐squatting was in the 1990’s, appropriation of proprietary user names on social networking sites is problematic;
• User name registration is free;
• Multiple registrations are possible;
• User name for sale accounts are prohibited;
• CNN/James Cox example;
• Social networking sites have internal IP and trade‐mark policies, but no user name equivalent of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) exists;
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• User name squatting is prohibited by the Twitter Rules.
• “Please note that if an account has had no updates, no profile image, and there is no intent to mislead, it typically means there is no name‐squatting or impersonation. Note that we will not release inactive or squatted user names except in cases of trade‐mark infringement.”
• “Attempts to sell, buy or solicit other forms of payment in exchange for user names are also violations and may result in permanent account suspension”.
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• “Name squatting and “user name for sale” accounts will be permanently suspended. Attempts to sell or extort other forms of payment in exchange for user names will result in account suspension. Accounts that are inactive for more than six months may be revoked without further notice.”
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TWITTER TRADE‐MARK POLICY
• “Using a company or business name, logo or other trade‐mark protected materials in a manner that may mislead or confuse others or be used for financial gain, may be considered trade‐mark infringement. Accounts with clear INTENT to mislead others will be immediately suspended; even if there is no trade‐mark infringement, attempts to mislead others are tantamount to business impersonation.”
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TWITTER IMPERSONATION POLICY
• “Impersonation is pretending to be another person or entity in order to deceive. Impersonation is a violation of the Twitter Rules and may result in permanent account suspension.”
• “Twitter users are allowed to create parody, commentary or fan accounts. Accounts with the clear intent to confuse or mislead may be permanently suspended.”
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TWITTER CRITERIA
Twitter will consider the following factors in determining whether name squatting has occurred:
1) The number of accounts created;
2) Creating accounts for the purpose of preventing others from using those account names;
3) Creating accounts for the purpose of selling those accounts;
4) Using feeds of third party content to update and maintain accounts under the names of those third parties.
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HOW TO PROTECT YOUR TRADE‐MARK
• Register corporate names, trade names, trade‐marks and brand names with each social networking site;
• Register permutations and combinations of trade‐marks as user names;
• Review the terms of use of every site and understand rights and obligations;
• Ensure compliance with terms of use by employees and licensees;
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• Develop and implement internal policies regarding use and ownership of user names by employees and key personnel;
• Monitor social networking sites to determine if the trade‐marks are being used inappropriately;
• Report infringements and improper uses, including “user name squatting”to social networking sites;
• Restrict employee use of social networking sites to prevent disclosure of confidential or sensitive corporate information, dilution of brand, and potential defamation and depreciation of goodwill claims;
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COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
• Unauthorized reproduction of copyright work on a social networking site is copyright infringement unless it falls under specific exception or if a substantial reproduction has not beenmade;
• The party posting the copyright work is liable for infringement;
• The social networking site may be liable for infringement if they “authorized” the infringement;
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• Most sites have “notice and take down” provisions to limit liability as a service provider;
• Implement internal policies and employment agreements to prohibit posting of third party copyright material and to defineownership of content;
• Ownership of user‐
• created content is a significant issue.
QUESTIONS?Rob McDonald 780 423 7305 [email protected]
The preceding presentation contains examples of the kinds of issues companies looking to increase their activity in social media could face. If you are faced with one of these issues, please retain professional assistance as each situation is unique.