Open Innovation and Social Networking Communities: Ownership and Licensing of Intellectual Property Prepared by Sean F. Kane Principal, Kane & Associates LLC Copyright 2010 Kane & Associates LLC

What is a Social Networking Site?  A social network focuses on building and reflecting social networks or social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities.  Most social network services are web based and provide means for users to interact over the internet, such as e- mail and instant messaging.  Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.

Social Network Sites

What is your Profile?  A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services.

Legal Social Network Sites Invitation OnlyOpen Membership

Comply with Terms of Use Property  Source of Rights External legislation EULA rights  Administering Rights Dispute resolution Safeguarding property Insurance (server crashes) Transfer mechanisms Intellectual Property  Determining Owners Closed v. Open  Defining Proper Uses Contests  Content creation User Generated Content  External I.P. Deny use of external trademarks? Policy for handling use of external I.P.?

You Think You Are Collaborating with

Although In Reality…

What if Satan is on my Friends List?  Virtual friends can be added to a "friends list" that can often allow him or her connect with your other connections.  Need to be careful about your friend settings.

Law Firm Social Networking Pages  Take a common sense approach to posting.  Do you want a presence on social networking sites? Informal employee-created pages or groups; Using social networks to advertise; Firm policy;

Law Firm Social Networking Pages  Will you allow public interaction? Generally protected from liability by Section 230 of the CDA, but...  Potential for bad publicity  Selective filtering of participation  Affirmative misstatements about regulating participation  COPPA  Unauthorized practice of law or creating of attorney-client relationship

ABA Commission on Ethics  Do the Model Rules and existing disciplinary enforcement mechanisms adequately address the issue of social networking sites by lawyers and law firms?

Thank You Sean F. Kane, Esq. Kane & Associates, LLC 475 Park Avenue South, 19 th Floor New York, New York Tel: (212) Fax: (212)