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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Trademark and Copyright

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Wednesday, December 13, 2023

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$347.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will guide IP counsel on embedded photos from social media and the associated copyright issues. The panel will review recent court treatment of these issues. The panel will discuss what companies can and should do if they have unlicensed third-party content currently embedded on their websites and policies that should be in place to protect the company from copyright infringement actions.

Faculty

Corrine A. Irish
Of Counsel
Squire Patton Boggs

Ms. Irish is an experienced litigator and strategic adviser, effective in successfully resolving high-stakes legal matters. Her practice spans a variety of subject matters, including contract disputes, business torts, intellectual property enforcement and defense, constitutional law, and employment matters. She also has significant experience representing companies and individuals in creative industries, including beauty, media, publishing, and the arts. Ms. Irish is a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School and is a past adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School.

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Britt Lovejoy
Partner
Latham & Watkins LLP

Ms. Lovejoy represents technology and digital media companies in matters at the intersection of copyright, competition, and commercial litigation. She helps music broadcasters, internet platforms, and software developers navigate all aspects of complex licensing and business disputes. Ms. Lovejoy provides nuanced legal advice informed by her deep knowledge of issues that technology and new media companies face in acquiring and distributing content. She collaborates with clients to mitigate risk within the context of music licensing, including for streaming platforms in music-rights rate-setting cases before the Copyright Royalty Board. Ms. Lovejoy also skillfully directs trial strategy and translates complex subject matter into persuasive trial themes before federal and state tribunals.

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Description

Embedding photos or images from social media into another website was initially thought to be within a safe harbor from a copyright infringement claim. Generally, many social and digital media companies have permitted users to embed content on third-party websites. However, over the last few years, there has been more copyright infringement litigation involving the issue of embedding.

Further, recent decisions have added more complexity to the issue of embedding, suggesting infringement may exist even if the copyright owner has granted permission to the social media site to permit others to embed photos. In Sinclair v. Ziff Davis (S.D.N.Y. 2020), a professional photographer sued Mashable Inc. and its parent company Ziff Davis, alleging Mashable embedded a photograph that she created and published on her Instagram account. The photo was embedded on Mashable's website. The court initially granted a dismissal but then reversed. The court focused on the agreements and terms that govern the sublicensing of work uploaded to the social media site. The court noted ambiguity in the language as to whether it meant that API users may embed the public content of third-party users on their websites.

However, in Hunley v. Instagram (9th Cir. 2023) the Ninth Circuit held that its server test permits copyrighted content to be embedded on another's website without violating copyright law.

Companies that operate online should be aware of recent developments to protect themselves from liability. Media companies have been the targets of recent litigation and may be liable for substantial damages when others' copyrighted images are used for their monetary gain.

Listen as our authoritative panel of IP attorneys examines the embedding of photos from social media and the associated copyright issues. The panel will review recent court treatment of these issues. The panel will discuss what companies can and should do if they have unlicensed third-party content currently embedded on their websites and policies that should be in place to protect the company from copyright infringement actions.

Outline

  1. Embedded photos
    1. Copyright laws
    2. Case law developments
  2. Policies addressing embedding
  3. Best practices to shield a company from liability

Benefits

The panel will review these and other noteworthy issues:

  • How does the Sinclair decision impact the embedding of photos? What assurance does the Hunley decision provide?
  • What must counsel do to ensure the company's repeat infringer policy falls within the DMCA safe harbor?
  • What steps should companies and website owners take to address currently embedded copyrighted content?