Right of Publicity | Law of Social & Emerging Media

5 Predictions for Augmented Reality Law in 2013 (and a Look Back at 2012)

Friday, January 4, 2013 By Brian Wassom 4 Comments

As a public radio commentator once said, augmented reality has “been the Next Big Thing for a while now, although it never manages to become the Actual Current Big Thing.” In keeping with this Sisyphean observation, we did not (yet) see quite as much development in either AR technology or the law governing its use in[...]

Filed Under: Augmented Reality, IP Tagged With: Barbie Dream Closet, COPPA, deceptive advertising, deceptive marketing, facial recognition, Freddie Mercury, Google Glass, Ingress, licensing, Mattel, negligence, Nostradamus, patent, personal injury, porn, predictions, privacy, Right of Publicity, Trademark & Unfair Competition, Tupac Shakur, zugara

How Social Media Law Developed in 2012

Thursday, December 20, 2012 By Brian Wassom Leave a Comment

In January of this year, I wrote an article for Mashable called “5 Predictions for Social Media Law in 2012.” As the year comes to a close, I’m happy to report that all five came true. Let’s take a look: 1. Facebook Litigation Brings New Attention to the Right of Publicity. A year ago, a[...]

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: evidence, facebook, Fraley, gang, NLRB, privacy, PrivacyFix, protected concerted activity, Right of Publicity, SetMy Privacy, student speech

Bodies as IP: Does the Right of Publicity Objectify Women?

Thursday, June 28, 2012 By Brian Wassom 3 Comments

This article poses a question to which I honestly don’t know the answer: is it good public policy to say that being physically attractive is all someone needs to have an enforceable right of publicity? On one hand, defining the right of publicity in that way empowers attractive people (almost always young women) to stop[...]

Filed Under: Augmented Reality, IP, Social Media Tagged With: Catherine Bosley, Diamalynn Arnold, facebook, Fraley, like, Natalie Dylan, Right of Publicity, sex, Topheavy

Cutting-Edge Diva: Virtual Assistants and the Right of Publicity

Thursday, June 21, 2012 By Brian Wassom 3 Comments

Inspiration can come from the most unlikely of sources. Newton, for example, is reputed to have worked out his theory of gravity when an apple fell on his head. And I got the idea for this blog post from watching the latest episode of Drop Dead Diva, a legal dramedy on the Lifetime Network. Let’s[...]

Filed Under: Augmented Reality, IP, Social Media Tagged With: Drop Dead Diva, Lifetime Network, Right of Publicity, Siri, Vanna White, virtual asssitant, White v. Samsung

[RESOURCE] The Right of Publicity in Michigan

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 By Brian Wassom 2 Comments

Just in time for my presentation today to the Michigan Intellectual Property Association, I’ve added to this blog some resources on Right of Publicity law in Michigan. This new section contains summaries of virtually every Michigan and Sixth Circuit case on the Right of Publicity, copies of relevant bills from the Michigan legislature, and more. [...]

Filed Under: IP Tagged With: Right of Publicity

Twitter Accounts as Brands: The OMGFacts Lawsuit

Monday, May 23, 2011 By Brian Wassom 1 Comment

If they make a movie out of this lawsuit, they could call it The Social Network, Part Deux. Less than a year after the Oscar-winning film about the struggle for control of Facebook hit the screens, a high schooler living a few hours’ drive from the social media giant’s headquarters filed this lawsuit against a[...]

Filed Under: IP, Social Media Tagged With: Adorian Deck, Apple, Dell, Emerson Spartz, Justin Halpern, Lanham Act, LinkedIn, OMGFacts, Right of Publicity, Sh*t My Dad Says, The Social Network, Trademark & Unfair Competition, twitter, URLs

Forget Facial Recognition–Body Recognition May Be the Real Privacy Concern

Sunday, April 24, 2011 By Brian Wassom 3 Comments

“Take a picture; it’ll last longer.” Many times has that bit of sarcasm been directed at people who stare just a little too long. But suppose the guy is staring because he’s taking your picture? That creepy scenario may play itself out sooner than we think. While many commentators are (rightly) concerned about the ramifications[...]

Filed Under: Augmented Reality, IP Tagged With: 3deo, Copyright, criminal, intrusion into seclusion, Joe Rampolla, Kinect, porn, privacy, Right of Publicity, sexting, sexuality

While You Were Sleeping… I Infringed Your Publicity Rights on Facebook

Thursday, March 31, 2011 By Brian Wassom 3 Comments

It’s fairly well-understood by now that impersonation is a significant problem on the internet. How do you know that a person speaking online actually is who they say they are? Different social media sites handle the issue in their own ways. Twitter will offer certain well-known users the option of a “Verified” account. Facebook requests[...]

Filed Under: IP, Social Media Tagged With: facebook, false endorsement, impersonation, Right of Publicity, twitter, workplace

5 Predictions for Augmented Reality Law in 2013 (and a Look Back at 2012)

[RESOURCE] The Right of Publicity in Michigan

Forget Facial Recognition–Body Recognition May Be the Real Privacy Concern

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