Discuss the intellectual property aspects of social media.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube are primary avenues for ever-growing numbers of people throughout the world to share all types of information. They enable people to quickly mobilize around ideas or opinions as viewpoints can go viral in a matter of minutes. For these reasons, modern businesses are more and more reliant on social media to take the pulse of their clientele and to publicize new products, services, and ideas. As managers migrate to social media avenues to communicate with the world, they are cautioned to beware of legal problems that inevitably accompany any new technology. For instance, a business may encourage high levels of interactivity on its own social media sites in order to better understand its customer base. When doing so, it must develop policies for dealing with defamatory statements or postings that may infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others. It makes good sense for companies to engage in widespread monitoring of social media content to head off budding complaints or criticisms. However, actions should be carried out in a legally responsible manner. In addition, intellectual property owners should survey the horizon to safeguard against dilution or outright infringement of their rights. This is particularly true with trademark rights which can be lost if they are not enforced.