Regulating Content on Social Media
Copyright, Terms of Service and Technological Features
Corinne Tan
How are users influenced by social media platforms when they generate content, and does this influence affect users’ compliance with copyright laws?
These are pressing questions in today’s internet age, and Regulating Content on Social Media answers them by analysing how the behaviours of social media users are regulated from a copyright perspective. Corinne Tan, an internet governance specialist, compares copyright laws on selected social media platforms, namely Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia, with other regulatory factors such as the terms of service and the technological features of each platform. This comparison enables her to explore how each platform affects the role copyright laws play in securing compliance from their users. Through a case study detailing the content generative activities undertaken by a hypothetical user named Jane Doe, as well as drawing from empirical studies, the book argues that – in spite of copyright’s purported regulation of certain behaviours – users are 'nudged' by the social media platforms themselves to behave in ways that may be inconsistent with copyright laws.
Praise for Regulating Content on Social Media
'This book makes an important contribution to the field of social media and copyright. It tackles the real issue of how social media is designed to encourage users to engage in generative practices, in a sense effectively “seducing” users into practices that involve misuse or infringement of copyright, whilst simultaneously normalising such practices.’
Melissa de Zwart, Dean of Law, Adelaide Law School, Australia
'This timely and accessible book examines the regulation of content generative activities across five popular social media platforms – Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. Its in-depth, critical and comparative analysis of the platforms' growing efforts to align terms of service and technological features with copyright law should be of great interest to anyone studying the interplay of law and new media.'
Peter K. Yu, Director of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property, Texas A&M University
'There is little doubt that the book contributes significantly to research on copyright and social media where existing literature is scant. One of its main merits consists in its multifaceted approach: this is not a stereotypical law book dealing exclusively with statutes and cases, but a work that bridges traditional legal scholarship and behavioural sciences.'
Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice
Corinne Tan holds a PhD and LLM from the Melbourne Law School, as well as a LLB from the National University of Singapore. She was called to the Singapore Bar as Advocate & Solicitor in 2007. She is an internet governance, intellectual property and media law scholar who draws from her broad experience teaching and researching in Australia and Singapore. She has published widely in international law journals.
Introduction
I Regulation on social media
II Regulation of content-generative behaviours from
a copyright perspective
III Approach
IV Structure
Chapter One: Scope of study and a day in the life of Jane Doe
I Defining social media and user-generated content
II Choice of social media platforms
III A day in the life of Jane
IV Conclusion
Chapter Two: Regulation by copyright laws
I Relevant copyright standards
II Scenario one: the application of copyright laws
III Conclusion
Chapter Three: Application of the terms of service
I Terms of service
II Scenario two: the application of the terms of service
III Relationship with the copyright regimes
IV Conclusion
Chapter Four: Influence of the technological features
I Technological features
II Scenario three: the influence of the technological features
III Relationship with the copyright regimes
IV Conclusion
Chapter Five: How the terms of service and technological
features affect copyright’s regulation of
content-generative behaviours
I Perceptions and awareness of copyright laws
II Scenario four: regulation by copyright laws,
the terms of service and technological features
III Regulation of content-generative behaviours
by copyright laws
IV Conclusion
Conclusion
I Fairness from a user’s perspective
II Why regulating social media matters
Bibliography
I Articles/Books/Reports
II Cases
III Legislation
IV Treaties/Supranational materials
V Others
Appendix 1: Screenshots of the technological features
Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice
'This book makes an important contribution to the field of social media and copyright. It tackles the real issue of how social media is designed to encourage users to engage in generative practices, in a sense effectively “seducing” users into practices that involve misuse or infringement of copyright, whilst simultaneously normalising such practices.’ – Melissa de Zwart, Dean of Law, Adelaide Law School, Australia
'This timely and accessible book examines the regulation of content generative activities across five popular social media platforms – Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. Its in-depth, critical and comparative analysis of the platforms' growing efforts to align terms of service and technological features with copyright law should be of great interest to anyone studying the interplay of law and new media.' – Peter K. Yu, Director of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property, Texas A&M University
Format: Open Access HTML
ISBN: 9781787351769
Publication: March 26, 2018