Who 'owns' social content?

WHO ‘OWNS’ SOCIAL CONTENT? EVENT # 8 SMCSYD 19 APRIL 2010 Stephen von Muenster Principal P: 02 8221 0933 F: 02 8221 0934 M: 0417 724 573 E: stephen@vmsolicitors.com.au www.vmsolicitors.com.au

SOCIAL CONTENT: OVERVIEW
So we can move to our discussion and debate, let’s examine the legal WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN & WHY:
Social Content: Where is it?
Social Content: What protects it?
Social Content: Who owns it?
Social Content: When can I use it?
Social Content: Why should I care?

SOCIAL CONTENT: WHERE IS IT?
Blog sites (niche sites, reviews & forums)
Wikis & information sites (Wikipedia)
Content sharing sites (Flickr, YouTube)
Social Networking sites (Facebook, Twitter)
Game & virtual worlds (Second Life)
Brand microsites

SOCIAL CONTENT: WHAT PROTECTS IT?
Australia: Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth)
Copyright exists automatically upon creation of original works by a person
Copyright protects from unauthorised use of original books, computer programs, scripts, lyrics, paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, musical scores, films, videos, broadcasts, sound recordings and content containing combinations of these
The copyright owner has exclusive rights eg to communicate the work to the public (broadcast or place on the Internet) and to reproduce the work

SOCIAL CONTENT: WHAT PROTECTS IT?
In Australia under the Copyright Act there is a parallel set of rights to copyright which content creators enjoy, known as Moral Rights.
Moral rights exist independently from the copyright that may exist in original content
The key moral rights recognised are:
The right to be identified as the author of a work
the right to prevent a person falsely suggesting or stating that they are the author of a work
the right not to have the work subject to any derogatory treatment
International copyright:
Australia enforces OS copyrights under treaties & conventions
Treaty countries extend the same copyright protection to works created by nationals of other countries as they do to works created by their own nationals

SOCIAL CONTENT: WHO OWNS IT?
The general rule is that the ‘creators’ of ‘original’ social content are the copyright owners
Exceptions to ownership or changes to exclusive rights where site rules say so:
Blog sites: usually comments owned by contributors but eg Yahoo!7 : “ your Contributions automatically become the property of Yahoo!7 without any obligation of Yahoo!7 to you ”
Content Sharing sites: usually social content owned by contributor: Eg You Tube : “ For clarity, you retain all of your ownership rights in your User Submissions ”
Social Networking sites: usually social content owned by contributor: Eg Facebook : “ You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook ”; Twitter : “ You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services ”
Brand mircosites: Conditions of uploading content often provide for unconditional brand ownership

SOCIAL CONTENT: WHEN CAN I USE IT?
Freely Viewed ≠ Freely Used: check the site
When it is “public domain”: copyright expired [life of creator + 70 years]
When there is “express” permission:
Open knowledge – site says you can just use content in any way
Content licence – site says you can only use content in certain ways
Creative Commons Licence – the 6 licenses: “Some Rights Reserved” instead of “All Rights Reserved”
Through a copyright collecting society or broker (eg Getty Images)
Content sharing or social networking sites via permissions architecture: eg Facebook content is published using the "everyone" setting, but only for purpose of the site (not elsewhere online or offline)
By contacting the social content creator & ASKING!

SOCIAL CONTENT: WHY SHOULD I CARE?
Creator’s of social content are continually breaching copyright – scraping content, mashing up content, re-purposing content to create their content
Copyright in social content is also being infringed constantly – from sharing of content to further mashing up
For use that is inconsistent with copyright owners rights, you might be subject to a court injunction and/or damages claim anywhere in the world
Depends on how you want to use it and where you found it
But how can social content be truly “social” - perhaps what is needed is a “fair use” regime that strikes the right balance
What do you think?

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Who 'owns' social content?

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