20th Anniversary SAC Attorneys
Elite Lawyers
Lawyers of Distinction
Avvo Rating 10.0
Santa Clara County Bar Association
Association of American Trial Lawyers
Elite Lawyers Business James Cai 2017
Best Litigation Attorneys in San Jose
Expertise - Best Employment Lawyers in Santa Clara 2021
Expertise - Best Employment Lawyers in Santa Clara 2022

On Intellectual Property and Viral Videos

Some people have dreams of creating content on the internet, so that they can earn some of that sweet “internet money.” These people make videos, GIFs, images, blog posts and many other forms of content to reach their dream. In these cases, they do so intentionally. If they are lucky, one of their pieces of content will “go viral” and sweep the globe at a rapid pace as friends share the content with friends, who share it with other friends — and so on.

But not every “viral” meme or video is created intentionally. Sometimes everyday people just happen to capture an incredible moment on video or in a picture, and when they share it with a few people, it quickly spreads like a wildfire without them even intending for it to do so. So the question here is: how are viral videos and viral internet memes affected by intellectual property law?

First, it is important to establish the owner of the video or the meme. This is obviously the person who shot the video or created the content — but if you share that content to a wider audience using social media, the ownership becomes a bit more complicated. Your video or meme will suddenly become subject to the terms of use and service that those social media companies make their users agree to. In addition, your content would be subject to licensing agreements. That gives the social media site — Facebook or YouTube, as examples — certain rights and grants them the ability to take certain actions with your video or meme.

Ultimately, whether you created a viral meme or video on purpose or by accident, it doesn’t matter: you could run into legal issues with your content. Social media sites may take action against you, or certain parts of your content (the music in the background, for example) may have violated copyright or IP law. Knowing your rights and having an attorney on your side to protect you during these complex times is important.

Source : B2C, “Is A Viral Video Subject To Intellectual Property Law?,” Stephanie Reid, Sept. 29, 2016

Client Reviews
★★★★★
Mr. Cai Is a Diligent Attorney. My sister and I were defendants in a civil litigation case. We hired James Cai and his law firm, SAC Attorneys LLP. Mr. Cai is a diligent attorney and responded to our questions in a timely fashion. He and his staff were very helpful in keeping us informed of the proceedings of the case and in explaining each step. Mr. Cai is also very conscientious of fees and costs, and avoided unnecessary charges. The results of the Summary Adjudication sided with us. The Court Trial resulted in the “Final Statement of Decision” and “Judgment after Court Trial” overwhelmingly siding with us. Cynthia F.
★★★★★
I Am Truly Impressed. After spending a significant amount of time, money and efforts with my previous counsel at a larger law firm without getting meaningful results, I transferred my employment matter to SAC Attorneys LLP. The attorneys there were able to understand the complex situations of my case and put together an aggressive litigation strategy. We were able to file a compelling complaint within a week and forced the opposing party, which was represented by one of the largest law firms in California, to make a substantial settlement offer shortly thereafter. I am truly impressed by the no nonsense and results oriented approach by SAC Attorneys LLP attorneys. A job well done! X. Gao
★★★★★
They Took Time to Understand Our Technology. I am the founder of a bioinformatics start-up in the Silicon Valley and chose SAC Attorneys LLP as our corporate counsels. Their attorneys have great experience with high tech start-ups and were able to offer a highly competitive service plan while not sacrificing a bit of their quality of services. They took time to understand our technology and provided value added services by introducing investors and job candidates to us. We regard our attorneys at SAC Attorneys LLP not only as our legal advisors but also our venture partners. Dr. Pete S.