Employers: Keep Clear of Social Media Landmines, Part 2

socialmedia_158535558Social networking and social media are increasingly incorporated into the workplace, but not without dangerous issues arising. Employers need to be ready to handle issues relating to social networking that occur during both on- and off-duty hours. (more…)

Employers: Keep Clear of Social Media Landmines, Part 1

socialmedia_158535558Whether employers like it or not, social networking and social media have found their way into most workplaces. Their appearance has meant many potential landmines for employers to navigate. Luckily, there are several relatively easy steps that every employer can take to decrease potential liability. (more…)

Update Your Social Media Policies

As the National Labor Relations Board continues to refine its position, here’s what you need to know to update your (or your client’s) social media policy. (more…)

Everything You Tweet Can Be Held Against You!

Judges throughout the country wrestle with the legal ramifications of evolving new technology, including personal information privacy in the use of social media. A New York criminal court recently put a big hole in any privacy expectation on tweets when it upheld a subpoena duces tecum and required Twitter to provide a defendant’s tweets to the district attorney. (more…)

Social Media Adds a New Twist to PreTrial Publicity Ethical Issues

Updated on 10/31/12: The ABA Journal reports that the judge refused to issue a gag order to bar comments and blogging by George Zimmerman’s defense lawyer, finding no “overriding pattern of prejudicial commentary” and that an impartial jury could still be seated.

In an admittedly unusual move, the defense team for George Zimmerman, the man charged with murdering Trayvon Martin, has launched a new website, Facebook, and Twitter account to “disput[e] misinformation,” “discourag[e] speculation,” and provide “a voice for Mr. Zimmerman.” The website also seeks donations for Zimmerman’s defense fund. Is this new route for defense counsel a risky maneuver? How would California’s legal ethics rules weigh in? (more…)

Service Via Social Networking?

Serving a complaint via Facebook may be in our future. As BusinessWeek.com reports, the practice of online legal service is spreading around the world as courts look for new ways to keep their dockets moving. (more…)

Clashing Concepts: Trade Secrets and Social Media Networking

A company’s trade secrets have always been an integral and valuable part of its business assets. Social media networking is fast becoming an integral and valuable part of business practice. By their very nature, these two concepts clash and create unprecedented risks of trade secret exposure and challenges for trade secret law.   (more…)

Copyright Law in the World of Social Media

Social media — including Facebook and Twitter — has quickly become part of our daily lives. User generated content (UGC), including images, video, audio, and text, are uploaded everyday without thought as to whether it is protected under copyright law. But some are starting to ask questions on the limits of copyright in social media. Is a single “tweet” on Twitter entitled to protection? If not, what about a string of compiled tweets? (more…)

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