Customers often post images of products they have purchased on social media. The question is whether businesses can use or repost those images on their own social media.
The answer to this question involves copyright laws.
Copyright Ownership
The authors of a social media post has exclusive rights under the Copyright Act, including the right to use, copy, or sell their works. Generally, the copyright in a photograph, or any original work of authorship, belongs to the author. That is the person taking the photo or creating a work though digital design. The author owns the copyright to the work even though it involves a product owned by another company.
Reposting of Images
Presented are two senarios:
- Copying a customers post and reuploading it onto a businesses social media account.
- Retweeting of a customers post, which shows up on the businesses profile.
In the first scenario, there is most likely going to be direct infringement of the owners rights. That is because the business is copying the author’s work, which the author has exclusive rights to distribute, and then reposting.
In the second scenario, it is likely not to be direct infringement. The main difference is that the retweeter does not download or copy the posts and repost it under their own account. As in the case of Bell v. Chi. Cubs Baseball Club, LLC, the courts stated a defendant may be liable for direct infringement if their conduct creates a new electronic copy of the material. In this case, a retweet does not create an addition copy on the retweeters servers, as it is done through the online platform. The court also specifies that there is no liability if a person simply links to an original copy.
Penalties of infringement
A businesses social media account may have an enormous following. If a business reposts a copyrighted work, the business may be liable for distributing a copy of the copyrighted work to everyone who has viewed the post.
Under the Copyright Act, the penalties are calculated per copy. Thus, the penalties can add up for businesses that have a such a large following.
Avoidance of infringement
The easiest way to avoid copyright infringement is not to repost someone else’s image. If a business wants to use someone else’s image, they should get permission to do so first.