Social networks and intellectual property

by Oskar David Vanegas Juárez

Nowadays, social networks have become part of the social interaction.

Humanity has created an access to information for many individuals. A
widespread idea is that social networks own all the multimedia material we
upload. The reality is more complex, more than 2.09 billion users use the
Facebook application, The terms and conditions of these companies are not
very clear, according to many sources.

On social networks, most of the content that is shared (photos, locations,

videos and even family and personal information) are subject to copyright.
Companies such as instragram and Facebook have in their terms of service a
section within the terms and conditions of user (It could well be understood as
an adhesion contract), with accept, these terms and conditions, you are giving
access to companies to manipulate and store your information and privacy.

From my point of view, the fact of sharing our personal data and personal
information, generates my concern.

How far are the great proportions of controlling our information?

Should we accept social media as part of our social life?

Technology is in all areas of our lives, our social system is connected through
technology, social networks such as Facebook serve to communicate between
people in our social circles. In my opinion it is a subject with benefits and
harms. On the one hand, social networks make it easier for us to interact, by
nature we are social and our society is built to be connected.

According to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725:

The policy for the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing
of personal data by the institutions of the European Union is based on
Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on the protection of personal data by the EU
institutions, bodies, offices and agencies.

From this important Decision, a way is opened for users/consumers to claim

their intellectual property rights. Specifically, for rights inherent in the content
that they may generate within the framework of these platforms.

A Resolution, as can be seen, very relevant, given that in the digital ecosystem
users who generate their own content have an increasing presence.
Another legal aspect is the age allowed for a person to have a profile on social
networks. The minimum age established is 14 years old, depending on the
minor’s parents and on the company that owns this social network.

Intellectual property law protects, for example, photographs and other works
that may be protected by copyright. This means that the law protects the data
they publish only if there is originality in it, that is, a minimum level of creativity
is required, such as a watermark on a photo.

Copyright protects from all types of reproduction, distribution and

transformation of the content, but there are cases in which the content is
minimally altered and these copyrights are canceled due to such change. The
majority of users on social networks such as Instagram and Facebook have
accepted the conditions of use without reading them without knowing that
they are authorizing social networks such as Facebook that can use content
without financial consideration, giving access to many people to see the
content we publish.

In conclusion, these social networks can manipulate our information and

content, they can give access to third parties to see and disclose our
information without consent. We must be more attentive with the information
we publish on our social networks to avoid our overexposure and to protect
our security when we are using social networks.

Articles
1. Personal data protection

.ec.europa.eu/info/privacy-policy_es

2. The protection of the intellectual property over images on social

networks.

By Asedico. Published 20 of November, 2020

3. Intellectual property and social network

By Lleytons. Published 2022

4. Legal aspects and laws that govern Social Networks

By Resolving.es. Published 2014

Legal aspects and laws that govern Social networks

By Resolving. Published 2014