64

Legal Focus

JANUARY 2013

Social Media in Business

Switzerland

Social media has become incredibly popular over the last six or seven years, as a tool for both personal and business use, and is now one of the key ways in which modern society interacts and does business. However, as companies realise the potential of using social media to expand their business, there are of course legal issues to be navigated. To find out more about these issues, Lawyer Monthly speaks to Claudia Keller, Senior Associate at Swiss law firm, VISCHER. Claudia advises media companies and companies in the advertising business on the legal requirements for new media and digital forms of advertising, including the relevant data information protection requirements in this area. She also assists companies in other fields with media,

advertising and intellectual property law issues. the actual business in question. Companies in the financial sector, pharmaceutical companies or companies in any other highly regulated sector will be more restricted in their social media activities than a consumer brand company, for example, due to legal restrictions with respect to advertising, customer solicitation and filing duties. Before engaging in social media activities a company should check any possible regulatory restrictions and limitations. Surprisingly, businesses using social media also very often use the popular social media platforms without consulting their terms and conditions. These terms and conditions can contain complex regulations and usage restrictions. Another big issue is the use of content without the right holder’s permission. Companies – as well as private persons - using content without clearing the rights therein properly risk being held liable for copyright infringement. When “recycling” third party materials where the rights were cleared for other uses (for example use for a specific online campaign) businesses sometimes forget to check whether the use in social media was also cleared.

do you use social media within your work?

Yes, I have a twitter account @CKellerLaw which I use to tweet about current legal issues. Also, I use the professional networks of Xing, LinkedIn, Martindale Connect and INTA’s my network to connect with other professionals in the field.

What are the benefits of using social media within business?

The benefits of using social media within businesses are the increased range of coverage and influence of its corporate communication. Also, social media provides means to engage with customers on an additional level and thereby allows companies to connect and engage with customers on a more personal level.

What are the disadvantages?

In order to reap the benefits the social media engagement must be genuine and tailored to the business’ and its customers’ needs and expectations. Businesses thinking of using social media should not underestimate the resources and the planning a successful social media presence requires. Also, it is vital to engage the right people for managing a company’s social media presence. It takes at least some strategic thought in order to be successful and the success cannot be measured as easily as other activities. Then there is the risk of negative comments which are public and difficult to contain. This turns into a real disadvantage if the business is wholly unprepared for these situations as eventually everybody will have to deal with negative comments. Inadequate responses can lead to negative comments being blown out of proportion and posing a real reputation risk.

What legal challenges and complexities arise when dealing with social media for business reasons?

There are various challenges that also depend on www.lawyer-monthly.com

can you talk about any recent cases you have been involved in?

On a no name basis I can. I advised several companies on their internal social media guidelines as well as regulatory issues restricting their use of social media. Further I have advised companies on the use of their Facebook company sites, in particular in connection with competitions and promotions and the restrictions imposed by the (ever changing) Facebook terms and conditions. Addressing social media issues with our trademark clients is virtually daily business as the use and abuse of trademarks in social media has been an issue since the beginning.

How do you see the use of social media evolving over the next 2-5 years?

I think the use of social media within businesses will

increase, in particular in Switzerland where businesses might still have been a little bit more reluctant to jump on the social media bandwagon than in other parts of the world. I expect an increase in location based services and “niche” platforms (such as Yummly for food related topics).

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I do not think for a business to be successful these days it is absolutely necessary to have a social media presence. Any company should evaluate the pros and cons for its particular case. Some businesses make an informed and very conscious decision not to engage in social media. It would be a mistake, however, for these businesses not to keep up to date with the developments in the field and to neglect social media monitoring altogether. There are networks that create automated company pages (Facebook, Xing, LinkedIn), there might be fake pages or fan pages or other social media accounts that use the company name, the brand or trademark. Companies not engaging in social media activities themselves should not forget that they still might be the talk of the town on the social media scene and think about investing in some social media monitoring. LM

contact details:

claudia Keller E-Mail: somelex@gmail.com LinkedIn: ch.linkedin.com/in/kellerclaudia