The age of the long-established print media is on the verge of losing its significance and contrary to the dwellings of bygone times, social media is taking over. The social media industry has become inextricably significant in our daily lives and the modern world is inconceivable without the presence of social media platforms. Starting from entertainment, educational services, social connectivity, making reels, cinematographic content, news reporting, and sharing artistic/literary media to brand endorsements and fashion-influencing – platforms like “X” (erstwhile Twitter), YouTube, Netflix, Instagram, Facebook, etc. entails it all and offers a diverse range of unique creativities, exclusive content for the consumers to devour and enjoy themselves with. With the trending inclination to utilize digital media as a professional resource, emerging creators are making a living out of this by benefitting profitably. IP Law regime shields and protects the wide range of intellectual, original, and digital content of these creators by ensuring they are not pirated, violated and unscrupulously availed or cast off. Social media content creators sign service agreements and enter into contracts with the brands/companies/digital platforms and propel the latter’s industrial portfolio. Thus, determining who has the right to regulate/maneuver the uploaded media and the spectrum scope of protection available to the novel creators is crucial so that the commercial and legal facets don’t remain obscure.
Interlinking social media and law is a fascinating yet extensive expedition to undertake. We’ll take a glance only at the prominent issues that come into vogue and understand the significant specifics that content developers and audiences need to acknowledge and be aware/conscious of in the course of their dealings on the digital networking forum. Whenever we sign up for a social media platform, we are given the “T & C List” where we tend to ignorantly tick off all the statements and later on regret consenting to them. The contractual agreements entered between content creators and brands should highlight mutual rights and procedures for dispute resolution/settling grievance claims in case of adversity. For dedicated professionals, consulting counsel at this stage is preferable.
In the case of artistic/literary/creative content starting from a news article for The Economic Times, artwork of YouTube videos, or typical musical notes played at the beginning of any Netflix content or Instagram reels, it’s all protected under the Indian Copyright Act, 1957. It grants influencers and brands the right to license and register their content and to distribute, copy, display, or perform their original works. They can grant rights to replicate/reciprocate their content to authorized persons, if they want, in lieu of some commercial consideration.
For e.g. “A” runs a cooking channel on YouTube. He shares the recipes and tutorial videos there and posts the aesthetically appealing pictures of the dishes prepared, on his Instagram page. He commands a massive fandom on both platforms and commercially benefits from his uploads. “B” who also runs a similar cooking channel copies the exclusive recipes of “A” and “C”, a culinary magazine mala fide copies pictures of the dishes from “A’s” Instagram account and passes them off fraudulently publishing them as theirs. Both B and C are to be held liable for copyright infringement and unjust manipulation. Section 13 (1)(a) of the Act recognizes "Digital Data" as scholarly works and implies that these creations should be preserved in their distinctive abstract, emotional, musical, and artistic form all across India.
SONY has registered many cases where snippets of their music and motion art have been used for branding purposes or have been played without prior permission. In case of infringement, the concerned creator can submit/file a notice either against the platform or any other person as the case may be. Under Section 63B, any person infringing computerized materials or maliciously enriching from other’s copyrighted content can be punished with 6 months to 3 years in prison. However, content developers have their hands tied when it comes to “Fair Use” of their content, even though unauthorized, such as for scholastic purposes or for genuine criticism as iterated under Section 52. Overall, we can say that all social media platforms give utmost priority to the content creators and recognize that for all content they should have the final IP Rights as long as the platform/brand benefits in the due course.
Even the intricate aspects of online content such as the domain name of Yahoo, the intellectually designed thumbnail of an HBO movie, the fancy vector art emblem of “BB ki Vines”, fashionably designed “beer mugs” trademark of BeerBiceps or the famous slogan of Carryminati “toh chaliye shuru karte hain bina time waste kiye” is all protected under the purview of The Trademark Act of 1999. A particular creator’s process of influencing the audience or technical dexterity unique to his person or any inventive propositions put forward by him are protected by The Patents Act, of 1970.
The initial necessity for all creators, artists, and influencers is to carefully review the regulatory terms and conditions of the contractual documents before consenting to them and also to get their content registered and licensed at the concerned Government offices. The stakes are always high and thus, they should be vigilant, well-versed, and aware of their commercial and legal rights accruing out of their monetized endorsements, posts, and performance. AI and its baneful ramifications such as deepfakes, humanising and paraphrasing artificial content, generating music/literature by imbibing elements of renowned artists with tincture of subtle nuances and so much more have become an intangible/rampant part and parcel of our life. Cybercriminals sophistically target Instagram influencers through email phishing and violate their privacy at times. The circumstances that creators are experiencing is really obscure and many times it is difficult to ascertain on whom the onus of blame is to be put. The social media platforms should make their policies, and infringement detection/review mechanisms more stringent and also should ensure the creators are fairly compensated for any mishap arising due to security breaches and also should discourage unlicensed/replicated/duplicate content on their platform by penalizing the same. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are blockchain-based rewards that can be wired to creators if they can prove the authenticity of digital content.
Conversely, the creators should also duly respect and acknowledge the IP rights and labor of other fellow professionals and should drive to deliver content that isn’t ambiguous, but novel and unique. Expressing one’s talent or mettle through digitalized content is in pure exercise of fundamental rights under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution and thus it is the prerogative of the State to safeguard the aforementioned rights and foster a conducive environment for all creators and influences to portray and showcase their forte without hindrances/unfair competition.
