Abigail Rubinstein of Arons LLP.

Does your business “tweet” or “retweet?”Perhaps your business prefers to “pin” some suggestions on Pinterest, or “like” a page on Facebook.

Studies have shown that 43% of all online consumers are social media fans or followers, and 4.8 billion people have a mobile phone.

This number becomes even more powerful when one considers that only 4.2 billion own a toothbrush. (See: graphic at MediaBistro.com).

Social media is an important tool for businesses of all sizes, but it is not without risk. Businesses who are unaware can find themselves on the wrong side of a legal complaint if not careful.

This article will go over some general best practices to reduce your business’s risk of a legal complaint or protest.


General Best Practices


1. Be Honest – Honesty goes a long way to avoiding any social medial pitfalls. If you post disclosures or disclaimers you must do it in an obvious and noticeable way. Don’t promise a reward in exchange for a retweet or a “like” on Facebook, when the fine print requires something else, such as a purchase as well.

2. Use Common Sense – Everything on the Internet is publicly available and available forever. Do not post/re-post content that shows (or may be perceived to show) someone getting hurt, attacked or

If you’re representing your brand online, establishing Best Practices for social media can be a smart move.

humiliated; that might be considered racist, bigoted or demeaning; that depicts activity that is (or may be perceived to be) illegal; or that could otherwise show your company in a negative light. If your business is commenting on other posts or content comments should be constructive and on topic and absent of expletives, obscenity and vulgarity.

3. Be aware of others’ intellectual property rights – Use caution when posting any information that is not your own original idea or content. Rather than quoting, paraphrasing or reproducing an article or content found online, link to the article or share with others. Also, many social media companies have specific guidelines as to how to use their logos, names and content. Keep in mind that intellectual property issues are often complex matters. It is strongly recommended to seek legal advice to ensure you are within your rights to use content that you did not create.

4. Know your own intellectual property rights – Be aware of what you are entitled to protect, and develop a plan for enforcing your rights. Make sure you are aware of what rights are forfeited by agreeing to the terms of the social network.

5. Create social media policies – many businesses think that they do not need a social media policy. But having one will go a long way with legal agencies to show that your company is aware of social media issues and doing the best to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. Also, having a policy will help you and your employees resolve social media issues when they arise, such as, is it appropriate to like a competitor’s Facebook post, or retweet a celebrity endorsement?


Conclusion

Social media is a critical business tool to communicate with customers, suppliers, business partners and employees. The above is only a brief discussion of social media guidelines and best practices.

Social Media policies are not just for large global corporations. Having such policies in place is an important step in minimizing legal risk associated with using social media for your business.


Stay tuned to beautypackaging.com for Part 2 in this series, for a look at the three most popular social media platforms for consumers – Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Abigail Rubinstein is a partner with the intellectual property boutique Weiss & Arons, LLP in Pomona, NY. She counsels clients on a wide variety of intellectual property issues, including social medial and Internet issues.