Social Media, Blogging & the Law - An Inbound Marketer's Guide

Avoiding the Legal Pitfallsof Using Blogs for Inbound Marketing

Kenan Farrell, CEOKLF Legal @KLFLegal

LinkedIn.com/in/kenanfarrell

Presented By:

In Partnership with:Columbia Financial International, Inc.

Agenda

• About Kuno Creative

Chad H. PollittDirector of Social Media &

Search MarketingKuno Creative

@CPollittIULinkedIn.com/in/seofortwayne

Twitter: #KunoLaw

Agenda

• About Kuno Creative • Introduction – Kenan Farrell




Twitter: #KunoLaw

Agenda

• About Kuno Creative • Introduction – Kenan Farrell• Avoiding the Legal Pitfalls of Using

Blogs for Inbound Marketing




Twitter: #KunoLaw

Agenda


Blogs for Inbound Marketing• How Lawyers are Using Social

Media




Twitter: #KunoLaw

Agenda



Media• The New Legal Networking Guide




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Agenda



Media• The New Legal Networking Guide• Questions & Answers Chad H. Pollitt

Director of Social Media & Search Marketing

Kuno Creative @CPollittIU

LinkedIn.com/in/seofortwayne

Twitter: #KunoLaw

About Kuno Creative

Kuno Creative helps small to medium sized businesses find and capture leads through Inbound Marketing.

Twitter: #KunoLaw

About Kuno Creative

Inbound Marketing Services

• Creating Great Content• SEO• Social Media

• Monitoring • Engagement• Marketing

• PPC, SEM• Email Marketing• Lead Nurturing• HubSpot Certified Partner

Twitter: #KunoLaw

Twitter: #KunoLaw

Introduction

Kenan FarrellCEO

KLF Legal @KLFLegal


Kenan Farrell, Attorney•CEO, KLF Legal, Indianapolis, IN

– Intellectual Property, Entertainment– www.KLFLegal.com

Introduction



Chairman of the Indianapolis Bar Association’s Sports and Entertainment Committee

Twitter: #KunoLaw

Kenan FarrellCEO

KLF Legal @KLFLegal


Introduction



Chairman of the Indianapolis Bar Association’s Sports and Entertainment CommitteePast Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Committee

Twitter: #KunoLaw

Kenan FarrellCEO

KLF Legal @KLFLegal


Twitter: #KunoLaw(c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010

(c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010

Today’s AGENDA• Intellectual Property

(Copyright, Trademark)

• Corporate Blogging

• Criminal Law

• Defamation (Truth as Defense, Public v. Private Figures)

• Privacy (Publication of Private Information, “Newsworthy”)

• Net Neutrality

• Wikileaks

• Business Entity Formation for Professional Bloggers

Twitter: #KunoLaw


Dear KLF Legal,

• What obligation do I have to give attribution to an original source?

• To what extent can I use the content of a news story?

• Do I have any obligation to not delete comments from my wall/comment board?

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Laws vary state-by-state. You publish to all states.

You may be subject to 50 different laws.

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Social Media Policy

http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php

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Corporate Blogging• Disclosure of non-public

information through the use of blogs can expose a company to liability for violating securities regulations on selective disclosure.

• Information NOT allowed in blog postings:

– buying and selling stock– product launches– regulatory proceedings or

investigations– results of product trials

• If a disclosure does occur, the company needs to immediately evaluate the extent of the disclosure and determine if some form of follow up is required.

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Comment PolicyPost a comment policy to inform readers:1.what you will allow on your blog2.what you will not allow, and 3.what they are allowed to do.


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Comments

You have a First Amendment right to publish your blog in the way that you want, which includes the right to choose who may participate in discussions on your blog. You’re able to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

Respect the voice of others.

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Copyright 101

Copyright are exclusive rights granted to the creator of an original work

Bundle of Rights1) reproduction of the work2) preparation of derivative works3) distribution of copies of the work4) public performances of the work5) public display of the work.

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Internet – no barriers to copying

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The Internet Is Built on Copying

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It’s Technically Infringement, but it may

be a “Fair Use”Fair Use factors:• the purpose and character of the use, including

whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

• the nature of the copyrighted work;

• the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

• the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

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The law favors “transformative” use.

“transformative” - the original use, purpose, or intent of the material has been changed significantly into something substantially different in both appearance and objective

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All images and text in the presentation are used for purposes such as:

•criticism•comment •news reporting •teaching •scholarship•research

Fair Use

Twitter: #KunoLaw(c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010


How to avoid copyright infringement

CREATE 100% ORIGINAL CONTENT

USE CONTENT LICENSED FOR REUSE*

GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE!

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Copyright Troll

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• Last week Righthaven filed its 167th copyright infringement suit in federal court

• Righthaven seeks $150,000 in damages and forfeiture of the defendants' website domain name

• Cases generally settling for less than $5,000

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DMCA TakedownsGoogle Wins Viacom Copyright Lawsuit – 6/23/10• YouTube’s “mere knowledge” of

infringing activity “is not enough.”

• YouTube had no way of knowing whether a video was licensed by the owner, was a “fair use” of the material “or even whether its copyright owner or licensee objects to its posting.

• DMCA Sec. 512 - limiting the liability of online services from copyright infringement of their users


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DMCA TakedownNotice

(c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010 Twitter: #KunoLaw


S. 3804: Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA)

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Trademark 101

• A trademark is a 1) distinctive sign or indicator 2) used to identify products or services as originating from a unique source, and 3) to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities.

Reduces consumer confusionReduces unfair competition

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Pepsi®, McDonalds®, Apple®or

Trademark 101

Twitter: #KunoLaw

Trademark ChecklistGet your domain name(s), Facebook username,

Twitter account, etc.

At bare minimum, do a Google search for similar marks

When budget permits, seek federal registration

Always use a proper trademark notice (™ for common law rights, ® if you’ve obtained registration)



Nominative Fair Use

You are permitted to use somebody else’s trademark if using the trademark is necessary to identify the products, services, or company you’re talking about, and you don’t use the mark to suggest the company endorses you.

"shopping for books at Walmart”

"playing a Playstation game”

"wearing Oakley sunglasses."

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Criminal Law

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tinyurl.com/reallydumbfacebookposts

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DEFAMATION• Defamation is the issuance of a false statement about another person, which causes that person to suffer harm.

• Slander involves spoken defamatory statements.

• Libel involves defamatory statements in a printed or fixed medium, such as a newspaper, book or blog.

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DEFAMATION

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• Anyone who repeats someone else’s statements is just as responsible for the defamatory content as the original speaker if they knew, or had reason to know, of the defamation.

• Section 230 of Communications Decency Act provides strong protection.


• Private individual only has to prove you acted negligently, which is to say that a “reasonable person” would not have published the defamatory statement.

• A public figure must show “actual malice” – that you published with either knowledge of falsity or in reckless disregard for the truth.

– A “public figure” is someone who has actively sought, in a given matter of public interest, to influence the resolution of the matter.

DEFAMATION

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No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

Communications Decency Act Sec. 230


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User Comments

If the bubble touches me, you’re going to be arrested for assault


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French Court Convicts Google of Defamation After Linking Convicted Rapist With Rape – Sept. 27, 2010


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PRIVACY

Publication of private information (Indiana):• A public disclosure of

private information concerning the plaintiff that would be highly offensive and objectionable to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities;

• to persons who have no legitimate interest in the information;

• in a manner that is coercive and oppressive.

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“Newsworthy”Private information is newsworthy if some reasonable members of the community could entertain a legitimate interest in it.

Public has a legitimate interest in almost all recent events, even if it involves private information about participants, as well as a legitimate interest in the private lives of prominent or notorious figures (such as actors, actresses, professional athletes, public officers, noted inventors, or war heroes).

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“Newsworthy”• Newsworthiness is not limited to reports of current events, but extends to articles for the purposes of education, amusement, or enlightenment.

• However, a court may look at whether the private information is pertinent to an otherwise newsworthy story.


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Wikileaks

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Right of Publicity

• Individual's right to control and profit from the commercial use of his/her name, likeness and persona

• In many states, defendants often must pay attorney fees to the plaintiff if a claim is successful.


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Net Neutrality

Really really really F’d.

The First Amendment issue of our time.

Neutrality - No restrictions by ISPs and governments on content, sites, platforms, on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and no restrictions on the modes of communication allowed

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Professional Bloggers• How should you structure

your business?

• Two key features to consider in structuring your business are:

1) liability protection2) desired tax

treatment.

• There are several ways to form a business including: sole proprietorship, partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, and limited liability partnerships.

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Contact:

/KLFLegal

Facebook.comTwitter.com


Twitter: #KunoLaw

}www.KLFLegal.comPhone: 317.808.0000Blog: klflegal.wordpress.comBlog: indianaintellectualproperty.wordpress.comEmail: [email protected]

#KunoLaw

Attorneys & Law FirmsAre using social media for…•Personal & Professional Networking•Blogging (Personal & Firm)•Litigation Research & Voir Dire•Communication with Clients•Marketing

– Brand awareness– Lead generation

• Facts & Fiction• Social Media & the Law• New Media Marketing• Lead Generation• Personal / Firm Brand• Rules of Engagement• Real-World Examples• 6-month Plan

From: Columbia Financial Internationaland Kuno Creative

Special Offer for Attorneys & FirmsThe New Legal Networking Guide

E-book: How to Use Social Media toGet New Clients for Your Law Firm

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Special offer: $50 off (reg. $249)http://NewLegalNetworking.comDiscount Code: “KunoLaw”

Special Offer for Attorneys & FirmsThe New Legal Networking Guide

E-book: How to Use Social Media toGet New Clients for Your Law Firm

From: Columbia Financial Internationaland Kuno Creative Twitter: #KunoLaw

Questions & Answers

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Slides Posted at: SlideShare.net/KunoCreative

Social Media, Blogging & the Law - An Inbound Marketer's Guide

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Transcript of Social Media, Blogging & the Law - An Inbound Marketer's Guide