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Top California Social Media Influencer Attorney
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Social Media Lawyer

Legal issues with social media influencers

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER ATTORNEY FREE CONSULTATION

Suppose you are a social influencer looking to make income on your social platforms like Youtube, Tik Tok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc. In that case, you must be aware of “very” essential aspects of influencer agreements and contracts.

With new platforms sweeping across cyberspace faster than the speed of light, social media disputes are also getting murkier. Quite often, defamatory and unlawful remarks are shared on social media—mischievous and destructive statements. Many find themselves caught in this dilemma. If you are a victim of defamation or are getting accused of it, speak to a social media lawyer.

One of the most significant practice areas at our law office is social media law. Our lawyers can help you understand legal options, safeguard your rights, and protect your business interests.

Does a Social influencers need a Social media lawyer?

Lawyer social media influencers

As social media influencers, you will be surrounded by many legal risks, which can stem from copyright infringement, contract issues, and federal trade commission topics that can influence your social media platforms. Also, if you have any intellectual property, your unique challenges are to protect them; thus, social media attorneys are your right-hand person.

When searching for influencer contracts, etc., you can google “do it yourself” type contracts on the web. It is essential, however, to have your contracts created based on what best suits you. 

How Can Influencers Benefit From Hiring a Social Media Lawyer?

Here at Hess-Verdon & Associates law firm, as a social media attorney, we have built our legal services to assist social media influencers in building their lifelong brand. We do this by ensuring you take many facets like business formation, contractual law, trust and estate planning so that you can focus on building your brand.

Always make wise decisions and protect your hard work and efforts!

ARE INFLUENCERS REQUIRED TO DISCLOSE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH BRANDS?

When you work with our team of lawyers, we set up an initial face-to-face meeting to discuss options such as disclosures and your best options to ensure the marketing agencies you work with maintain the joint venture with you.

Call us today and work with Jillyn Hess-Verdon. After 30+ years of working with high-end clients throughout California.

WHO OWNS CONTENT CREATED BY AN INFLUENCER?

In the legal industry, it is always asked, “who is the ownership of the content? Is the content creator who owns it, or does the contract supersede the ownership interest of content usage?” Once again, this topic can vary, and that’s why a properly worded contract can assist you in maintaining ownership should that be your primary interest. Now, the product supplier, for example, may have different intentions. They may even have you sign a non-compete clause in the contract.

WHAT IS A MULTI-CHANNEL NETWORK (MCN) AGREEMENT?

To learn about MCNs, here are a few links to review:

How Can a Social Media Lawyer Help with Intellectual Property Protection?

It’s all about infringement on social media platforms. You will ultimately have a lot of intellectual property ownership on the web, and perhaps whether intentionally or not, you infringe on other parties’ rights. When it comes to the Internet, and being front-and-center, many of our clients pass all situations through us. Here at Hess-Verdon & Associates, you will find our team of lawyers protecting you from financial and reputational harm.

WHAT A SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER SHOULD KNOW

As a Social Media Influencer, one of your objectives is to ensure that the advertiser doesn’t take advantage of you because you didn’t know what you were signing. Yes, the dollar amount offered is probably something you never made before. Exciting! Some influencers can make seven figures selling specific products. But one fails to see the tiny letters that hold you accountable when things go wrong, meaning the contracts are always written to protect the product supplier.  

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER AGREEMENT

If you want to be an influencer for many years, congratulations! It’s an exciting way to live one’s life, and we congratulate you. However, we know the “ugly” side when contracts don’t play in your favor. That is why you need an experienced social media influencer lawyer who knows FTC guidelines and focuses on trust & estate planning and business formation. Your short-and-long-term-play is a trust attorney that knows the ins and outs of contracts, how to protect your assets, and more. Hess-Verdon & Associates are well versed in steps that an Influencer must do to protect their hard work and effort. Don’t look for an easy way out or jump quickly to making decisions. Your first contract appropriately done can help lead you to financial success.

Contact us today and be a social media influencer for years to come!

Social Media Business Goals

At the center of our social media law strategy is protecting the assets, image, and interest of businesses and businesspersons online. We design systems to help clients maximize their social media potential for business. We help them do that within the confines of the law. Expert lawyers leverage legal precedence to guide clients on compliant social media practices. They refer to the latest regulations that impact marketing, data privacy, corporate, intellectual property, and more.

The attorneys may also work with clients to craft effective defense strategies in case of lawsuits around social media use. They use years of experience and broad skills to defend and protect your business and personal interests vigorously.

Choosing the Best Social Media Attorney

The fact is social media is here to stay. Businesses realized the immense potential of using social media websites like Facebook and Twitter in their growth plans.

Social media is a powerful arsenal for brand visibility. Lately, a few brands operate entirely on social media – using it as their website, office, storefront, etc. They use it for marketing, sales, PR, customer care, payment and transactions, and more.

In such an environment, as is typical in the business world, disputes are bound to occur. One common problem is the issue of who owns the online intellectual or creative property rights of posts. These include things like logos, shared content, and hashtags. Social legal tussles can significantly derail business success. This is where a social media attorney comes in.

Work with law firms practicing social media law. Their social media attorneys will refer to copyright law, corporate law, and employment law to protect and maintain your intellectual property rights and business interests.

The Legal Risks in Social Media

In analyzing legal risks in social media, attorneys consider every substantive area of law. Let’s find out the different threats to expect in personal connections and public content on social media.

UGC

Using user-generated content such as reviews is an excellent strategy for social media marketing. It is a viable opportunity for people to spread positive word about your brand.

This low or no-cost marketing opportunity spreads brand awareness. However, posting company reviews can trigger negative publicity through responses – posts and user comments. If engaging in UGC leads to harassment and lawsuits from people on social media, it would be wise to contact a social media attorney quickly.

Brand Endorsements

Brands often try to get the endorsement of famous personalities online to elevate their status in customers’ eyes. Problems begin when you bluff: when you say that a particular celebrity has endorsed your brand when, in reality, they haven’t done so. In that case, the celebrity can bring up a lawsuit against you for unlawfully using their brand in marketing. Whenever posting, tweeting, or commenting, avoid making false claims about celebrity endorsements.

Defamation in Groups and Pages

An ever-present legal implication of using social media is the risk of defamation. This can happen in a group or page. Defaming an entity (accidentally or intentionally) opens you up to legal action. On the other hand, if you are the victim of defamation- statements that destroy your personal brand or business image- it is imperative to seek legal counsel.

Discrimination

Legal liability arises when your content disrespects a person or group based on age, gender, race, or nationality. If you operate in a high-risk industry like Sports, Health, or Education, have a legal team constantly monitor your social media handles and pages to ensure content is not discriminatory.

Other Social Media Legal Risks for Individuals and Businesses

IP infringement. Copyright infringement is when people start sharing your content without your express permission. You may also land into trouble if you use other people’s texts, images, or videos without their consent. Data privacy matters: Do you gather emails and personal information on social media as part of your marketing strategy? Care must be taken in the storage, transmission, or usage of these data so you don’t face lawsuits related to GDPR and other privacy laws.

Harassment or cyberbullying. You should never engage in what can be construed to be harassment or bullying. If you are a victim of cyberbullying on social media, a social media attorney can help stop it. And maybe get you compensation for your suffering.

FTC Compliance: If you don’t disclose sponsored posts and paid promotions as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stipulates, you might face lawsuits.

Social Media Lawsuit Defense Strategy

There are times, even when the most careful social media users can be sued for defamation. A social media attorney can mount defenses around the following principles.

Truth

It is also believed that truth is the most potent defense. In this case, you can bring up the sources from where you got the contentious information you posted. If the statement is substantially true, the defamation case will not stand. Journalists use this strategy all the time when reporting issues.

Statements of opinions

But what if someone takes issue with your comment on someone’s post? In that case, the attorney can bring up “fair comment privileges.” In that case, they will argue that what you posted was merely a statement of opinion. No one can sue you for that, even if the comments are outrageous.

Fair privilege

If, by posting the defamatory statement, you relied on a public document, you will have a strong defense for your actions. Your lawyer can also argue that you used a statement made by a public official. In that case, whether the information was correct or false, no one can sue you.

Neutral Reporting Privilege

Sometimes, public figures such as politicians engage in social media broil over public interest matters. Neutral reporting privilege protects you in instances that necessitate public interest debate or criticism, such as when you oppose a tax bill by saying that the bill’s sponsor is “killing” or “robbing” small businesspeople.

Statute of Limitations

How long has it been since you made the troublesome statement? If the accuser has waited too long to bring the lawsuit, your lawyer can have the case thrown out on the account that it violates statutes of limitations. In California, the statute of limitation for defamation (online or offline) is one year. Cases brought after this period cannot be prosecuted.

Social Media Policy Consultation

Lawsuits are costly. They waste time and can destroy your brand’s image for good. You can create social media to protect your brand from legal risks. The purpose of this policy is to guide your team on legal ways to use social media. The best policy balances the interests of your rand with individual rights, including yours and those of your teams and third parties.

For instance, instead of banning employees from mentioning your brand on their personal social media accounts, you can place restrictions on things they can say about the business.

Given how law and social media can be complicated, it would be a challenging task to create or oversee such a policy yourself. Improve your odds of success by working with a team of experienced social media lawyers. They will draft the best policies fit for any occasion or incidence.

Choose a team with many years of experience in helping companies overcome social media legal troubles. If you want to sue anyone for any of some of the risks we described earlier, consider an attorney with a history of winning big compensations for their clients in such cases. You can review their client history and testimonials as advisable before deciding.

Conclusion

The end goal of the social media market is to popularize a brand to the extent that it goes viral. Posting content (in any format) that gets seen by thousands or millions of people can be an exciting adventure. Beware though. This high level of publicity can end up being problematic. Defamation, libel, privacy violation, and copyright infringement are some of the top legal risks to expect when using social media.

Speak to an experienced social media attorney to create a solid defense strategy. If you are a victim of these violations, the attorney can also help you get the proper compensation. If you do most of your business on social media, law professionals can help devise a social media legal policy that enables you to prevent these cases.

Contact us to learn more.

 

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Are you an MCN? (Mult-Channel Network)

If so, feel free to call us regarding drafting agreements with creators.

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Top California Social Media Influencer Attorney
Top California Social Media Influencer Attorney
Top California Social Media Influencer Attorney

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