• Home
• Media Kit
• Archives
• Contact Us
• Podcasts
  • NewComm Conversations
  • Podcast Directory
• enewsletter

Facebook Social Advertising May Trigger Major Minor Problem in New York; YouTube Being Sued... Again; Hulu & Microsoft Live Writer; Prince Continues Crackdown; Becker Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

Facebook Advertising Violates New York Law: The Real Issue May Be Underage Users

Don't be surprised if your Facebook friend begins soliciting products and services to you. However, the company's clever social advertising model -- whereby the user's face is linked to the advertising -- may, in fact, be illegal in New York.

According to an article by Saul Hansell in the New York Times, Facebook's social advertising platform may violate New York's privacy law. This statute (NY CLS Civ R § 51) requires prior written consent before a person's name, portrait, picture, or voice can be used for advertising or trade purposes in New York.

Those with standing can sue for an injunction, as well as damages. Case law holds that while written consent is required as per the statute, the actions of the plaintiff would be a consideration. Oral or implied consent, while not an absolute defense, could nevertheless be used by the defendant to mitigate damages.

In the Facebook case, where the user has to sign up for his or her likeness to be associated with the product or service at inception, it would seem as easily as they opt-in, it would be assumed they could just as easily opt-out. According to Portfolio.com, however, Facebook's 22-year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "There's no opting out of advertising."

But what of Facebook's underage cliental? Individuals can argue back and forth about whether Facebook's opt-in procedure constitutes permission (written or implied). However, the real issue Facebook should review concerns the underage community it serves. which according to its Terms of Use are those between 13-18 currently in high school or college. In that case, pursuant to NY CLS Civ R § 50, Facebook could be found guilty of a misdemeanor:

"A person, firm or corporation that uses for advertising purposes, or for the purposes of trade, the name, portrait or picture of any living person without having first obtained the written consent of such person, or if a minor of his or her parent or guardian, is guilty of a misdemeanor."

Even if it could be shown a minor opted-in to the social advertising, the contract entered into with a minor typically cannot be enforced by the other party. Therefore, unless Facebook has a mechanism where the underage user's parent or guardian agrees to opt-in as well, and that opt-in procedure is considered written consent, the company may well open itself up to potential New York lawsuits with a spectrum of attached liabilities.

Whether Facebook views potential face-offs as viable is anyone's guess.

Read more >>>
"Facebook Ads" (Facebook Blog)
"Facebook Unveils New Advertising Program" (MediaPost)
"Official: Facebook Poised to 'Take Over The World'" (Portfolio.com)
"Are Facebook’s Social Ads Illegal?" (New York Times)
NY CLS Civ R §§ 50, 51

Indian Music Label Sues YouTube Claiming Copyright Infringement

Maybe I should call this column "Who's Suing YouTube Now?" This week, Super Cassettes, a music label based in India, filed suit against YouTube and its parent company Google claiming it violated copyright laws. Super Cassettes's lawyer claims they asked YouTube to remove the infringing material on several occasions but the company never did.

Google did not comment on this latest allegation. However, in the past it has been critical of India's Information Technology Act 2000. The act creates liability for intermediaries such as ISPs, search engines, hosting companies and their ilk for infringing acts of their users.

Read more >>>
"YouTube Sued by Indian Music Label" (InfoWorld)
Information Technology Act 2000

NOTEWORTHY:

I'm jealous! Mark Sullivan from PC World was one of the lucky ones to get private beta access to Hulu, the new Internet video venture from NBC/Universal and Fox. Sullivan calls the project "among the best attempts I've seen yet at streaming video at high quality over the public Internet."

See also:
"First Look: Hulu Video Service" (PC World)

For the first time in its 62 history, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of this country's two highest civilian honors, has been awarded to a blogger. Okay, while Gary Becker, a 1992 Nobel laureate in economics, certainly is not be solely a blogger, the Financial Times points out if for nothing else, Becker is surely "the most distinguished blogger in the world." Becker blogs with pal, US Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner.

See also:
"Finally, Blogging is Blessed on High" (Financial Times)
The Becker-Posner Blog (yes, that's its name)

UPDATES:

Prince Cracks Down on Fan Sites: In an update to my Oct. 7, 2007 column ("Gov't Eyes Letting Telecoms "Off the Hook;" RIAA Wins Big; Prince's Infringement Stance"), Prince's lawyers have pressured numerous web sites run by fans to remove copyrighted images of the Purple One, taken during his London concerts. CNN reported his attorneys sent a letter to the site owners asking them for "substantive details of the means by which you propose to compensate our clients [Paisley Park Entertainment Group, NPG Records and AEG for damages]" for the use of the images. Soon after, AEG, the promoter of Prince's London gigs, issued a press release assuring fans that Prince is not out to sue fans and that he intends to offer some downloadable images for fan site use.

On Friday, CNET reported that Prince is going after The Pirate Bay, a BitTorrent indexing site. One might be wont to ask, if The Pirate Bay finds a need to collect its allegations of wrongdoing on a separate web page called "Legal Threats Against Pirate Bay," maybe a best practices meeting might be in order?

Read more >>>
"Prince Takes Steps to Protect Copyrights" (AP)
"Prince vs. Fans" (CNN)
"Prince to Sue The Pirate Bay" (CNET)

By the way, I'm Digging Live Writer: This is the first time I'm using Microsoft's new Windows Live Writer. Not only does it post to my blogs (and do spell check, insert pictures and video, et al), but I can actually write right on the blog page (simulated, of course). How cool is that? Very.

And Microsoft has added a cleansing filter to eliminate the notorious "garbage code" that has plagued Word-to-Internet postings for years. Right now my only complaint is I have to manually code line inserts, but I can live with that small task. Live Writer gets a good review from me. If that changes in the future, I will let you know.

Windows Live Writer is part of a new suite of free downloads. Check them all out at http://www.windowslive.com.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Elizabeth L. Fletcher is the CFO/Legal Counsel for the Society for New Communications Research and frequently writes and educates on issues found at the intersection of law and new communications. She owns Fairbanks Fletcher Law and is admitted to practice in all New York courts and at the Federal level in the Northern District of New York and the United States Tax Court. She was the founder/publisher of Rhythm and News Magazine. She blogs at blawgher.com. The information contained in this article, or in links provided in this article, is not to be misconstrued as legal advice or a recommendation regarding any of the legal issues or problems described herein. Nothing on this site should be interpreted in any way as constituting the giving of legal advice or the practice of law. All visitors should consult an attorney regarding their individual questions or needs. Elizabeth Fletcher, Esq. may be contacted at drezdon1@yahoo.com.

Comments

Register for the 2009 Symposium
and Awards Gala Now!

• Recent Posts

  • An Excerpt from Trust Agents
  • Social Media Provide Untapped Opportunity to Engage High Dollar Non-profit Donors, According to Community Philanthropy 2.0 Research Study
  • SNCR to Host 4th Annual Research Symposium & Awards Gala
  • Technorati Launches Twittorati
  • Society for New Communications Research Launches New Study to Explore How Social Media Affects Business Decision Making
  • Society for New Communications Research and Middleberg Communications Announce Second Annual Middleberg/SNCR Global Survey of Media in the Wired World
  • ONA Announces Call for Nominations for 2010 Board Members
  • Society for New Communications Research Announces Call for Submissions for 2009 Excellence in New Communications Awards
  • Nonprofit Organizations Lead the Way in Social Media Adoption According to Society for New Communications Research Chair Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson of Financial Insite
  • Society for New Communications Research Fellow Danny O. Snow Named to IBPA Board

• What Are Our Fellows Thinking About Today?

  • KDPaine's PR Measurement Blog » AVE, WMC? Does any of it really matter? Forrester doesn’t think soPosted 4 minutes ago
  • Between the Lines » CIOs: Apple iPad, slate PCs have a business rolePosted 2 hours ago
  • Between the Lines » RIM: BlackBerry sales on solid footingPosted 3 hours ago
  • Between the Lines » News to know: Server wars; Windows 7; GMail; China hacker arrests; SAPPosted 3 hours ago
  • Small Business Labs » Low Cost, Easy to Use Technologies Changing IndustriesPosted 4 hours ago

Copyright © 2004-2008 New Communications Review · Theme by Brian Gardner · Author Log in