Web pages are a treasure-trove of useful information for companies that are able to capture it using Web crawling (or scraping) technology. Yet, for over 20 years, courts have struggled to draw the line between the usefulness of such information and the rights of the content owners and website operators from which that content is derived. Once a niche issue, the increased use of this technology has compounded the disputes related to it.
Consumers might use "Google" as a verb, but that doesn't mean Google's trademark for its search engine is generic.
Facebook Inc. received one of its biggest regulatory slaps late last month when European antitrust regulators fined it $122 million for providing misleading statements about its 2014 purchase of WhatsApp. The fine is relatively small compared to Facebook's annual profits, but it does signal a more aggressive regulatory environment in the region.
Hui Chen, the contracted compliance counsel at the Department of Justice, often talks about how the tone at the top is important to compliance officers. But Chen clearly is not happy with the tone at the top of the organization, because she has been openly posting anti-Trump messages on her Twitter account, @HuiChenEthics.
How will the courts deal with questions of interpretation raised by emojis?
Famed Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos will have to face a defamation suit over his Twitter posts implying that record producer Dr. Luke raped Lady Gaga.
In the digital age, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been keeping tabs on the growing trend of brands hiring so-called "influencers" — athletes, celebrities and others with large followings — to promote their products on social media. In April, the FTC turned its attention downstream to the "influencers" themselves, sending 90 letters to influencers and marketers informing them of their responsibility to "clearly and conspicuously" disclose the business relationships behind social media posts.
In a bid to assert control over cyberspace, China passed a sweeping cybersecurity law that affects virtually every company doing business in that country. The law is set to go into effect June 1, 2017. Despite its broad reach and potential for disruption, it appears that very few legal professionals are aware of the law.
In a bid to assert control over cyberspace, China passed a sweeping cybersecurity law that affects virtually every company doing business in that country. The law is set to go into effect June 1, 2017. Despite its broad reach and potential for disruption, it appears that very few legal professionals are aware of the law.
An enlarged print of an Instagram post containing a copyrighted photo counts as a transformative use, an attorney for "appropriation artist" Richard Prince — whose use of other artists' material in his own works has made him no stranger to the courts — argued before a New York federal judge in April.
