Defining Copyright Protections on Social Media in the Age of Instagram #Reposts
Jessica Barbaria Globally, more than one billion people use Instagram every month. It is no wonder Instagram’s impressive user base has attracted big businesses to the platform. Brands seeking to grow their audiences often turn to social media to reach new customers, engage with existing customers, and source marketing content. Despite brands’ increasing reliance on Instagram, the legal boundaries of social media marketing are not well defined. Brands do not always know when they have permission to exploit user-generated content, and users do not always feel their content is fully protected. To clarify this uncertainty, Congress should amend the Copyright...
Applying Antitrust in Digital Markets: Foundations and Approaches
Mark Jamison This paper analyzes the conflicts that arise when trying to apply traditional antitrust principles in the context of digital markets. Antitrust has both political and economic foundations. The political approach emphasizes populist themes that ultimately harm economic development, whereas economic approaches focus on characterizations of and remedies for market power. Digitization of markets thwarts current antitrust tools by adding complexity and rapid change. Several authors suggest populist approaches for antitrust in digital markets, but these lack rigor and fail to address central challenges. This Article suggests that antitrust should return to its earliest roots and directly address features...
I See It, I Like It, I Want It, I Got It: Ariana Grande’s Right of Publicity Lawsuit Against Forever 21
Alexandra Babkowski In 2019, Ariana Grande filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Forever 21 for violating her right of publicity, a legal construct designed to help celebrities control their identities for commercial use. This right is important to protect in light of the influence of celebrity endorsements and the risk that businesses will misappropriate celebrities’ images because they cannot afford the hefty price tags associated with celebrity endorsement. This Essay argues that under common law, Forever 21’s use of unauthorized photographs of Grande and the look-alike model violate Grande’s right...
Don’t Sue Meme, It’s a Parody
Lea Silverman Memes have become one of the most prolific posts on social media websites. Memes exploit familiar templates of existing images overlaid with text, typically to make a point or a joke. There have been very few court cases and almost no rulings on the issue of memes and copyright infringement. By applying a fair use analysis and the Supreme Court’s 1994 decision in Campbell v. Rose-Acuff Music, Inc., this Essay argues that meme creators can successfully assert the parody defense to copyright infringement. Read Full Text Here
Decentralizing Drone Regulations in Low-Altitude Airspace
Julie Bateman States have long held authority over low-altitude airspace. Nonetheless, with the rise of commercial drones over the past decade, the FAA has extended its near exclusive authority over aircraft in navigable airspace, generally airspace above 500 feet, to low-altitude airspace. Several members of Congress have proposed affirming the state’s authority over low- altitude airspace, most recently Senator Mike Lee with the Drone Integration and Zoning Act of 2019. Under the FAA’s regime, dominant players have secured valuable authorizations for beyond visual line of sight operations and package delivery services, yet small businesses have struggled to obtain authorization for...
The Internet of Things: How Digital Copyright Rules Govern Our Physical World
Jessica Barbaria Intellectual property law governs the digital world. Thus, copyright law controls how digital content, such as software, is shared and accessed. Digital content is generally licensed, permitting users to save and use a copy of software but not to own it outright. Because the internet enables monitoring of these licenses, copyright holders can ensure users do not infringe on copyright or violate their license agreements in other ways. Software also enables advanced capabilities in physical products. For example, car manufactures can remotely modify settings to benefit drivers after they buy their cars. That said, software updates come with...
No Safe Harbor: YouTube’s Content Id and Fair Use
Robert Andrea YouTube is arguably the world’s foremost platform for user-generated content. When users upload material to YouTube, there is a possibility that the uploaded content is protected by copyright. Under traditional copyright law, YouTube is technically liable for allowing copyrighted material to be disseminated. But the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) insulates YouTube and other internet service providers from liability if the companies take certain steps to filter out copyrighted material. For YouTube, the only feasible way to fulfill its copyright protection obligations is to utilize automated copyright protection software. Nevertheless, YouTube’s software, Content ID, and the copyright policies...
Deep Fakes Accountability Act: Overbroad and Ineffective
Zachary Schapiro Improvements in technology have made it easy to create deep fakes: realistic false digital records depicting a person performing actions that did not occur. Although there are legitimate uses for deep fakes, like parodies or finishing a movie where a principal performer has died, they can inflict harm upon the individual depicted or the general public if, for example, used to influence the outcome of an election. Considering these detrimental uses, Congress has proposed the Defending Each and Every Person from False Appearances by Keeping Exploitation Subject to Accountability Act of 2019 (DEEP FAKES Act) to impose civil...
Hackback to the Drawing Board: Ambiguity and Risk in the Active Cyber Defense Certainty Act
Robert Andrea Cyber criminals, both state-sponsored and unaffiliated, are targeting private corporations and individuals more frequently. For several years, there have been calls for legislation that would allow private entities to defend themselves in cyberspace by “hacking back” against their attackers. The Active Cyber Defense Certainty Act is a recent proposal to amend the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to permit private entities to take active defensive measures without exposing themselves to criminal liability. Although a well-intentioned proposal, the bill uses vague language to identify when, and against whom, private entities can take defensive measures. Enabling private entities to begin...
Keeping Private Messages Private: End-to-End Encryption on Social Media
Steven Song Following recent data scandals, online users have become concerned that their private information on the Internet is susceptible to misappropriation. These concerns motivated data privacy regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act to ensure better protection against unauthorized access to personal data. Relatedly, Facebook has announced a plan to implement end- to-end encryption (E2EE) for all of its social media messaging systems. E2EE strictly limits access to private messages to the communicating parties. Even the company managing the messaging system cannot access these encrypted conversations. The implementation of E2EE, however, comes...