Insights

Refreshing Your Website: Overlook the Legal Details at Your Peril

Many individuals and businesses are refreshing their websites, as COVID-19 makes our online presence more important than ever. In the process of creating a new look or updating your content, it’s important to consider some often-overlooked legal matters. Content on the Site Be sure you personally or your business own or have permission to use […]

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Get Out of My Space: Drones and Privacy Law

Carolyn Wimbly Martin and Ethan Barr

In 1849, the Austrian military sent a fleet of large, unmanned balloons equipped with explosives in an effort to blockade the Republic of Venice. Since these “aircraft” were somewhat autonomous, many believe these balloons to be the first example of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), commonly known today as drones. Throughout the next two centuries, drone […]

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What’s in a Rename: Changing School, Building and Program Names Within Educational Institutions

Naming schools after individuals dates back to colonial days when Harvard College was named after its first benefactor, John Harvard, in 1635. As we approach nearly 400 years of this tradition, public and private K-12 schools and universities have a wealth of experience upon which to weigh the legal, political and community goals which are […]

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If You Think You Are Insured Against Copyright and Trademark Infringement Claims, Look Again

To the extent businesses worry about the risk of being sued for copyright or trademark infringement in their marketing materials, they may assume that they are protected by their business liability insurance, the same insurance that covers liability for slips and falls and damage to property. However, many business liability policies that include coverage for […]

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“Sharenting”: Precautions and Consequences of Creating a Child’s Digital Footprint

Carolyn Wimbly Martin and Nick Feldstern

A study conducted in 2010 found that 92% of two-year-olds in the United States had an online presence. See Digital Birth: Welcome to the Online World. In the last decade, social media has taken over as a dominant form of social interaction, and, recently, the COVID-19 quarantine has left many even more dependent on Facebook, […]

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“Your Video Was Not Posted”: An Addendum

Carolyn Wimbly Martin and Ethan Barr

Professionals in the music industry who rely on live performances of licensed content—particularly DJs—continue to navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and seek answers regarding the most copyright-friendly live-streaming services. See our earlier blog on this subject.  Twitch, one of those technology companies which serves as a platform for live-streaming video games, had received significant criticism […]

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Deepfakes: The New Frontier of Disinformation

Carolyn Wimbly Martin and Ethan Barr

In June 2019, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared to criticize himself in a video posted to Instagram: “One man with total control of billions of people’s stolen data—all their secrets, their lives, their futures…” It was a moving image of Zuckerberg, except that the audio sounded like an unconvincing impression, and the individual […]

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EU Court Decision Invalidating Privacy Shield Results in Massive Confusion for U.S. Businesses

This post has been updated. Read the first addendum here, the second addendum here and the third addendum here. On July 16, 2020 the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) invalidated the Privacy Shield, the safe harbor mechanism that has facilitated the transfer of personal data from the EU to processors in the […]

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Ed Tech: Safe Uses and Partnerships

Carolyn Wimbly Martin and Ethan Barr

This is a continuation of our blogs about the intersection of remote education and the law. Adapting to a remote learning environment as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic unravel has been a constant learning process. The Internet has seemed like uncharted territory for some districts. “Zoom-bombing,” disruptions of video conferences by hackers and pranksters, […]

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