Photo copyright on social media

What is copyright?

Every day the popularity of social networks is only growing, and along with this, more copyright material appears on the Internet.

There are situations when the photos you have posted on your social pages have been used by someone for commercial purposes. What to do in this case?

In this article, we invite you to talk about the peculiarities of copyright in social networks. Interesting? Then read on.

Copyright can be held by a person who is the creator of a material. In our case, this is a photo that was posted on social networks. According to the law, the author can transfer and sell his rights to third parties, and the transfer of rights can be carried out in whole or in part.

Important to know! The use of intellectual property objects that are protected by copyright without appropriate permission is a direct violation and carries certain legal responsibility.

If you want to use someone else’s work, then there is a solution. You just need to conclude an agreement with the copyright holder, on the basis of which you will be able to dispose of intellectual property objects to a certain predetermined extent.

Social media copyright considerations

According to social polls, today almost every third person is registered in at least one social network. The largest number of users is installed on a social network such as Facebook (approximately 1.59 billion). Also the largest network that exclusively hosts photos is Pinterest (100 million).

Millions of photos can be found on all social networks. Therefore, questions often arise regarding copyright infringement on photos from social networks. So what do you need to know about this?

The Internet more and more takes place in the life of an ordinary person. Thus, new rules, habits, opportunities appear. However, Internet regulation is not ideal today. Situations when copyright is violated in social networks are ambiguous and complex, because all processes are difficult to track, and some procedures are automatic. Some will say that this is a good thing, because there are so many things to do right from home, and it takes little time. The problem is that stealing materials has also become easier due to this technological development.

For example, it is almost impossible to prove your rights to materials on social networks, since the time of publication is not considered an argument (certain technical failures could have occurred). In addition, on the Internet you can get a photo for free or buy it for a certain amount. However, in most cases, these sellers have nothing to do with the authorship of these items. A conflict arises, a solution to which is very difficult to find.

Recently, more time has been devoted to this issue, especially social networks, which are in great demand and are afraid of losing their credibility. Special programs are created with checks that work within the network.

Let’s take a look at some social networks and how they are subject to copyright.

Social network Facebook

As we said before, Facebook is the most popular social network with the most followers. One can only imagine how many new materials are added to the network every day.

Interestingly, Facebook has launched a feature that allows you to set a special list of people who can see your posts. In this way, unwanted use by third parties can be avoided. There are often situations when the use of other people’s materials was argued by the fact that the author himself published the material in the public domain. Thereby granting permission to dispose of the photo.

In addition, in practice, the organizers of the social network worry about the rights of their users. At any time you can contact technical support with your question, where you will certainly be helped.

Pinterest Policies

What is Pinterest? Do you have such a board where you hang your favorite photos? This is the same thing, but in an online format.

On this site, users can find photos, images, animations by categories of interest to them, and can also post their own work.

Platform employees make sure that copyrights are protected. Every year there are more and more registered ones, so it becomes more and more difficult to identify violations.

Most often, a conflict arises when a user has posted a photo on his page without specifying the original author. In this case, the photo can be deleted, the user will receive a warning or be deleted altogether. The most difficult of all is the novice author, because their works are not initially popular and recognizable, and therefore there is a risk of their illegal use.

In addition, not only a photo can be stolen, but also its element or idea. If you notice that your character is depicted on someone else’s work, but in a different style and presentation, you can still defend your rights.

What to do in a similar situation? For any violation of your rights, please contact Pinterest support. It is desirable that the letter has a formal style and clearly describes the current situation. In most cases, they will provide you with professional help.

As a result, we can say that most of the conflicts occur due to the fact that users do not study the rules of social networks, and then post other people’s materials without indicating the real author. Another problem is that the requirements of social networks are directly dependent on state legislation, that is, different countries have different rules. That is why it is impossible to offer an unambiguous solution.

So, if you want to protect your photos on the Internet from illegal use, then you must go through the procedure established by law. First of all, send an application to Ukrpatent.

Our company Vise Group can do all the work for you, saving you time and effort. We know about all the nuances and features of the procedure, because our work experience is 10 years. In addition, we can tell you about all the advantages and rules of using titles of protection.

Want to know more? Then leave a request on our official website – get a free consultation from our specialists!

Was it interesting? Find out the details regarding the new bill, which establishes changes in the patent legislation of Ukraine.