Social media: Five legal hazards marketers need to know.

New media doesn’t mean you throw out all the old rules – especially the ones that need to be in place to protect you. Think about the radio. It didn’t end long-standing legal principles about damaging someone else’s reputation. It just made it easier to do it faster, to more people, and in front of a larger audience.

Nor has the arrival of social media created any “Get Out of Jail Free” cards for the online community. The potential for defamation, false advertising, privacy, and infringement are still very much alive. If you haven’t already, consider these five basic legal protections:

• Train your online “spokespersons.” Every tweet is an advertising claim and warranty about your business. Make sure they accurately convey your business and its policies, consistently. Online is the last place you want your ambassadors to “go rogue.”
• Everyone’s a potential product manager. When you ask your customers to provide comments, product reviews or other dialogue, they become “product managers.” The world becomes their audience, and whatever they say is irretrievable.You may want to shape the conversation so that what comes back isn’t libelous. For example:“Tell us about how much easier cleaning your kitchen became after you started using XYZ.” is safer than “Tell us all the ways our XYZ beats Acme’s ABC when it comes to cleaning your kitchen.”Narrowing the range of responses will make it less likely that participants will lead you into legal minefields.
• Button up your “Terms of Use.” Make sure your website’s “Terms of Use” have prohibitions about submitting illegal material, such as content that’s defamatory, false or obscene. If users ignore these prohibitions, you may have a right to pursue them for breach of contract.
• Sometimes being passive is okay. If you are merely a passive website where others post their comments and information, the law sometimes provides “safe harbors.” But once you start changing submitted materials, you can unwittingly become an author that is liable for any problems that may be embedded therein. Think hard about the nature and amount of tinkering you do to the social media content on your website – and exercise caution.
• Keep your friends close. Affiliate marketing arrangements can be a great way to connect you to a network of e-commerce zealots and to improve your chances of going viral. But since these deputies are far-flung and independent, stuff can happen before you know what hit. Make sure you have strong quality control language in your contracts with affiliate marketing managers. Make them obligated to oversee their network and protect your brand on the web.

Even in the new media, the old principles endure. As a marketer, you can ignore them, but at your peril. And if you do, keep your checkbook handy.

What are your thoughts? How else can a brand protect itself? We want to hear from you.

Our thanks to James Quinn, our friend in the Field who is also a Shareholder at the Larkin Hoffman law firm in Minneapolis. Jim and his group have an active national and international practice that focuses on intellectual property, technology transactions, and all aspects of online business. He can be reached at jquinn@larkinhoffman.com or 952-896-3309.