With the explosion of media, consideration should be given by in-house counselors to problems presented by it, how it affects the workplace, and to address media use by third parties a nd employees. As with the growth of blogs and the Internet, intellectual property issues and present employee are played out in this place creating problems. Unlike other venues websites has the capacity to increase problems by providing a larger audience.
The following are a few specific considerations that counsel must analyze.
1. Care has to be taken to safeguard information and to educate employees about appropriate use of networking. Examples of this include disclosure of other information and product launches. That new product attribute is known to the world after Tweeted, and there is.
2. Caution should be taken by employers in action. The NLRB is currently watching. Workers claiming firing as a result of comments and posts have filed several cases.
3. Companies have been sued for false advertisements and deceptive trade practices based on false statements and reviews. Another area of potential liability is worker posts which are defamatory or disparaging of the products of a competitor. Apparently, a line has to be communicated as an employee and the employee activities between posts that are online.
4. Without revealing their employment relationship employees who snore or exaggerate a organization’s services or products, even if honest run the risk of exposing the company by the FTC to actions. Care should be taken by employers in educating employees. A violation could lead to action against an employer though it had been unaware of their endorsement. These concerns have bloggers who are paid or provided product.
5. Social networking provides a much larger, real time audience for yesterday’s issues – All of the problems facing companies and employee relations, from worker discrimination and harassment to embarrassing pictures and remarks at the business party, might be performed in a really public arena in the speed of light. Employers educate employees concerning the proper usage and should incorporate media policies. Many problems should be eliminated by simple guidelines to workers .
6. Be cautious using social networking as a recruitment tool – The highly personal nature of social networking provides prospective employers ample opportunity to find out extensive personal information regarding employment candidates that ordinarily wouldn’t be divulged in a resume. Care should be exercised by businesses in using this advice to prevent claims for hiring. One approach is to segregate the researcher and the decision make to make sure that when information that is sensitive or protected is uncovered, it could not have played a part in the decision and wasn’t introduced to the decision maker. There are some risks while a tool to screen job applicants.
7. Registration is not as costly than trying to regain the username.
Litigation over trademark infringement or identity theft can be expensive. Best protect rights.
8. Social media policies are getting to be a best practice- Businesses should incorporate policies in their employee handbook or create policies as different guidelines. The concerns are simply a couple of the problems which may be dealt with by a media coverage that is drafted.
A policy must address that owns usernames, media reports, posts, and other articles.
Finding out that independent contractor or an employee possesses a Twitter handle and posts can be a lesson for a provider. Companies should use and should not hesitate to deal with this problem.
9. A business can find a third party to stop using its trademarks or brand names or via utilizing media companies’ intellectual property policies. This is a more affordable and better route than filing and waiting litigation. Twitter Facebook, and eBay all provide mechanisms to deal with IP disputes. The safe harbor provides a road map for addressing IP disputes, while the DMCA applies to copyrights.
10. The trademark infringement case for example, between North Face and South Butt, was played out in networking. Typical litigation tactics may backfire and actually lead traffic. Lawyers should check to ensure they don’t run afoul of contact and juror pool study.
Social networking and social networking law hasn’t only opened up new avenues for communications and brand promotion such as to Purchase Instagram likes on instagram, but has also added entirely new techniques to infringe on these efforts. Ensuring that business and your brand is protected in cyberspace is important; it is an essential part of their workers and businesses must communicate. Care must be taken to educate contractors and workers concerning the dangers of posts.
