Sharing contributions within the network
In addition to copyright, the terms of use of social media must also be respected. As far as Facebook and LinkedIn are concerned, sharing a post that is public does not violate either. If you want to share anything else (e.g. a web article), you can only share the hyperlink.
Sharing contributions from elsewhere
You may have noticed that the preview windows have disappeared when sharing links on Facebook. Previously, when you shared an interesting article, for example, a thumbnail would appear next to the post. However, there has recently been a change in legislation that grants copyright to press publishers for the use of their press publications online. A press publication does not necessarily mean a newspaper that you physically buy from a newsagent, it can also be a news website that publishes only online. In short, anything that provides news and other forms of journalism such as commentaries, articles on general or special topics, interviews, reviews, etc. also in online form. And such online publications are now also protected by copyright.
Such a publication can only be used without permission if a hyperlink is inserted or if single words or very short extracts are used. Therefore, a preview of the article will no longer appear on Facebook, but only a simple link. The conclusion, therefore, is that sharing a hyperlink does not infringe copyright.
Beware of unfair competition
However, if you manage a company profile or your own business profile on one of these networks, beware of unfair competition. You can quite easily commit comparative advertising or reputational parasitism by sharing. But it always depends on the context. Of course, it is not desirable to share a competitor’s post and compare yourself to them. The idea of sharing a link to a competitor’s site, for example, with the words “We’ll do it cheaper!” you should think twice.
But apart from comparative advertising, which you can probably avoid quite easily, you can also be guilty of parasitising on reputation. The post must not give the average user the impression that the companies or their sites are in any way connected or related to each other.
In America, there was a dispute on this subject by the Co. Ticketmaster sued Tickets.com for linking to the plaintiff’s website without permission. The court found the problem was that the defendant company was attempting to imitate the plaintiff’s website in order to confuse users and was a direct competitor of the plaintiff. Your intent is not necessarily unfair, but such elements are relatively easy to find in a post. For example, you want to share another company’s work because you admire it. However, if you are in the same business, a user may very easily get the impression that it is your work, or that you may be connected in some way. So if you add a short caption to such a post, for example, saying that you are sharing someone else’s work, you won’t make a mistake.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or guidance for any particular case.
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