Chris McElwein answers a question at the annual Chicago Small Business Expo
The annual Chicago Small Business Expo arrived with no small fan fair. Thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs attended panels to learn how to build effective businesses. Among the best panels was Avoiding Risky Behavior by Saper Law Offices of Chicago. Its principal, Daliah Saper, has seen a number of cases involving internet and entertainment law; She is also an adjunct professor on the topics at University of Illinois and Loyola University.
Lawyers Chris McElwein and Shyla Jones offered the attendees more than a few great tips on legal issues on the internet, such as copying, sharing material, trademark usage, cybersquatting, and defamation.
Here are some highlights I caught while sitting in on the session.
Repinning and retweeting is among the causes for legal questions regarding image ownership and usage. According to Chris, "everything involves reproduction, but copywrite laws have not caught up".
Copyright - can be music, books, picture, expression. the 101 - if you have the right - then you can reproduce it, make derivative works, distribute, perform, and display
Do social media sites own a photo upload?
I thought this question was a good one raised. It's been referenced a number of times, especially with Facebook, and probably more thanks to Google's inclusion of images into ads. The answer? For the most part, no, not true.
The team also explained the concept of public domain, in which a work is considered open for use 75 years after the author dies. This falls under fair use, but for works which are not open, users must be careful. This is a "loose doctrine"; there are four factors that must be in place to be considered fair use.
1. Purpose and character of the use
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality used
4. The effect of the use pun the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
If you business is interested in more on internet legal issues, the Saper Law team has a number of workshops available. Plus you can catch Daliah Saper online to learn her take on various issues of the day.
- Pierre DeBois
