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NNDKP Discusses the Legal Implications of Using Social Media

Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen was the partner of the first edition of the Legal Issues in Social Media conference, organized by Evensys. The event, which discussed social media issues from a legal perspective, but also from a corporate communication and human resources one, reunited approximately 100 specialists from these fields. The discussions revolved around the risks faced by companies when communicating through social media and the solutions for crises generated or amplified by this communication medium.

NNDKP’s speakers at the conference – Ana-Maria Baciu, Roxana Ionescu and Delia Belciu – addressed topics such as online copyright laws, private life in social media and the conflict between trademarks and domain names.

“One of the more acute issues encountered by companies and influencers in the online world has to do the violation of copyright laws. Despite the less explicit legislation in Romania, notorious cases from other jurisdictions are the best example to show that legal solutions exist, beyond managing risks and image crises. Facing such accusations, even giant Google had to remove some unauthorized copies of movies from their Google Video platform, as a result of notifications from the rightful copyright owners”, states Ana-Maria Baciu, Partner and Head of NNDKP’s Intellectual Property Department.

Challenges also arise when we speak of social media and private life. “The problems deriving from data protection legislation can be quite numerous and complex, but not impossible to manage. One of the most important aspects from a human resources perspective is defining the framework within which employees may be active in the social media and the way in which the companies monitor their activity in this medium. In marketing campaigns it is essential to inform the persons if and when their personal data is collected, which can generate a database that may or may not be viable for their future marketing actions", explained Roxana Ionescu, Managing Associate and Head of NNDKP’s Environment and Data Protection practice groups.

“The economic potential of domain names gave rise to abusive registrations of domain names for famous trademarks (so-called cybersquatting), which fueled numerous conflicts. Within some limits, the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) offers an efficient alternative solution to these conflicts, especially the ones connected to the “.ro” domain name. Even so, the conflict between trademarks, domain names and the usage of trademarks in the online medium still remains a problem that will further generate complex debates”, states Delia Belciu, Senior Associate in NNDKP’s Intellectual Property Department.

The slideshow presentations on these topics can be accessed on NNDKP’s official Facebook page, launched yesterday during the “Legal Issues in Social Media” conference.