Who Owns Photos and Videos Posted on Facebook or Twitter?

Well, it depends on what you mean as “own.”  Under copyright law, unless there is an agreement to the contrary or the photograph or video is shot as part of your job, a copyright to a photograph generally belongs to the creator.  As the copyright owner, you own the exclusive rights to display, copy, use,… [Read More]

Tags: Copyright, Facebook, linkedin, Twitpic, Twitter

How Can I Protect My Website or Blog from Copyright Infringement?

Can websites and blogs be liable for copyright infringement?  It depends.  If the blog owner is copying other creators’ content verbatim (in whole or in part), depending on the facts at hand (perhaps there is a “fair use” defense), such copying would generally open the blog writer up to liability for copyright infringement.  This can… [Read More]

Tags: Copyright, DMCA, Infringement, NY Internet Lawyer, Safe Harbor

What Happened to Scrabulous on Facebook (Hint: Has to Do With Violating Scrabble Board Game’s Trademarks and Copyrights).

Online games are protected by copyright and trademark laws. Back in 2007, Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla created Scrabulous, the online Scrabble knockoff that became a smash on Facebook. When Hasbro, which owns the North American rights to Scrabble, filed suit for intellectual property infringement, the brothers removed the game from Facebook after the social network received a takedown notice from Hasbro’s lawyers [...] [Read more]

Tags: Copyright, Facebook, Game Business, Scrabble, Scrabulous, Trademark