Business Tips – Streaming.Lawyer

Just Out! The New 6th Edition of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” by David Meerman Scott

I’m honored to be profiled in Chapter 5 of David Meerman Scott’s 6th edition of his best-selling book, “The New Rules of Marketing and PR.” The chapter is titled, “Blogs: Tapping Millions of Evangelists To Tell Your Story” and frankly, it shares some of my favorite approaches to building your brand and creating global top-of-mind awareness and influence. I know you’re going to like all of the tips, information and stories found in David’s updated book!

To put the value of David’s book into context, it’s important to know that the first edition of “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” was published in 2007 and was six months on the BusinessWeek bestseller list. Since then the book has sold more than 375,000 copies in English in the various editions and is now available in 29 languages from Albanian to Vietnamese. Hundreds of colleges and universities around the world use it as a text in class and many companies require all marketing and PR staff to read a copy.

The newly updated 6th edition is out in the USA and will soon reach other countries around the world. It includes a dozen fresh new examples of success. Click here for more information and to place your order!

Update: I’ll be sharing the stage with David in Las Vegas later this month at the Tony Robbins Business Mastery Event. Look for our updates and livestreams during the upcoming event and click here or on the image below to watch a short live video of David sharing my newsjacking efforts at the recent Florida event 😉

Do The Right Thing In Your Social Media Community!

Do The Right Thing on Social Media

Each of us must rededicate ourselves to serving the common good. We are a community. Our individual fates are linked; our futures intertwined; and if we act in that knowledge and in that spirit together, as the Bible says: “We can move mountains.”

-Jimmy Carter

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My first website went up in 1996 and over the years, I’ve experienced good things on the Internet, social media, and digital platforms.

I’m a fan. I “get it” and enjoy the technology dance. The platforms we all use allow us to add value to others, build relationships, and show our human side. It’s an amazing time to be alive.

But during this same period of time, I’ve also personally observed a tremendous amount of online fraud, crime, and wrongdoing take place. And this bothers me.

Just over the past two years on social media I’ve watched more than one dishonest business person use his or her “fame” or “influence” to mislead others and take thousands of dollars from other people.

Over the past two years on social media I’ve observed the harm caused by a social media influencer (who at the time also happened to be a convicted registered sex offender with 300k+ followers on Twitter) and and his online “friends” by initiating and encouraging a misguided social media feeding frenzy resulting in false defamatory statements being made and harming the reputations of good hardworking people.

Over the past two years on social media, I’ve observed multiple people, including a well know Snapchat user, arrested for alleged crimes involving child pornography.

Over the past two years on social media, I’ve watched people steal other people’s ideas, clients, trade secret list, and even entire websites from hard working digital business owners.

And over the past two years on social media, I’ve watched and read about careless people causing harm and death to others because they tried to live stream or update their social media status while driving.

Speaking of distracted driving, during this same period of time, I’ve been retained to help numerous people harmed by the careless distracted driving of others. This included a family who’s grandmother and two-year-old granddaughter were both killed by a distracted driver. Even my own son, Garrett, lost two of his soccer teammates to reckless distracted driving.

Both of my kids have been hit from behind by distracted drivers. My daughter, AJ, had her car totaled and Garrett had major damage to his car. Both were injured but are doing better today. It’s because of these very personal experiences that Garrett and I started StopDD.Today.

Looking back on all of these situations, the careless and often times intentional conduct of these wrongdoers is inexcusable and pathetic. This type of conduct should never be permitted or condoned!

But too often it is. Too often people who know the facts simply look the other way.

That’s not OK.

Because there is no place in my life for people like this, I’ve already unfollowed, blocked, and stopped supporting what these people are doing. I’ve advised my clients to do the same. After you read this post, I hope you do too.

Online Community Neighborhood Watch

Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. I know I do. Maybe you do too.

But there’s a big difference between people who work hard, do their best and sometimes fall short and make a mistake and others, who intentionally try to harm and deceive other people. This is especially true when crimes are committed.

Some friends of mine have taken the position that we should live and let live when it comes to our social media communities. They tell me not to get involved. Just look the other way and forget about it.

I understand what they’re saying and normally this is my approach when it comes to the “little” things in life. I’ve got more than enough on my plate to keep me busy for many years to come.

Having said that, I think it’s important to appreciate who really benefits, and who is harmed, when there are no consequences and wrongdoers are not held accountable. I explore that last statement further below.

In the offline community we’ve lived in since 1991, we have a neighborhood watch. Our neighbors and friends all look out for each for each other and the system works pretty well.

neighborhood 600

Just two weeks ago I posted some pictures on Facebook of all of us hanging out in front of our homes during a Friday evening neighborhood block party (above). What I didn’t mention is that later that night one of our kids noticed a teenager from a party down the street try to steal a skateboard, speaker, and several other items from our neighbor’s open garage.

Continue reading “Do The Right Thing In Your Social Media Community!”

Talking Points From My “Legal” Presentation at Social Media Day San Diego 2017

We had over 400 people from around the world attend Social Media Day San Diego. The venue was on the sand at the beautiful Bahia Resort on Mission Bay. I shared a few pictures and videos in an album on Facebook and also on Twitter and Instagram using #SMDaySD

My afternoon presentation revolved around sharing 30 years of legal tips to help keep my social media friends safe when doing business on the digital platforms. Looking back, it’s clear my message was to be careful about what you say and do on social media. In today’s world, there are legal consequences.

I started things off by sharing the below Fyre Festival video from Mashable

Next, I showed everyone what a $100M lawsuit looks like and we talked about business, legal and social media promotion options to avoid being named a defendant in a similar claim.

I then discussed 7 specific tips to help everyone in the audience safely do business on the social media platforms. If you missed the event, no worries. Many of the approaches I mentioned can be found in a combination of my earlier blog posts, “Nine Legal and Entrepreneurial Tips To Help You Start and Build Your Online Business”, “So You Want To Start a Business?” and “Influencer Marketing- Tips for Influencers, Social Media Agencies, Brands and Consumers.”

All of my fellow speakers shared major value during the conference. If you were not able to make it this year, you can stay connected and possibly eventually get access to some or all of the content by connecting with SocialMediaDaySanDiego, Casual Fridays or Tyler Anderson.

I believe social media is all about relationships. It was great seeing old friends and also beginning many new friendships. I’m looking forward to staying in touch with everyone and continuing the social media dance for many years to come!

Thanks everyone for a fantastic experience. Make today your masterpiece!

How to Remain Human in High Stakes Business Negotiations

During the #H2HChat (live video interview), I shared 30 years of trial lawyer negotiation approaches and techniques with friends and social media pros Bryan Kramer and Courtney Smith Kramer of Purematter.

You can watch the recorded interview above or here!

I believe the “insider secrets” I shared have helped me close numerous multi-million dollar cases for my clients. Regardless whether your next deal is small or large, these negotiation methods will work for you too.

I may share detailed “show notes” and bullet points in the near future. Follow me here at the blog or on social to get the link when it goes live.

If you enjoyed this post, please recommend and share to help others find it. Also, please feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks!

Facebook Live Audio Copyright Issues: Things You Need to Know!

The rollout of Facebook Live Audio is awesome. It offers a new way to communicate, in real time, with our clients, customers, and audiences, using our mobile devices. Click here or on the image above to listen to my first Facebook Live Audio.

Intellectual Property Rights

While Facebook Live Audio provides all of us with a new free audio based broadcasting tool, it also exposes uninformed users of Facebook Live Audio to place themselves in legal jeopardy for violations of Intellectual Property (IP) and specifically, copyright right laws. In this post, I share some of the issues I’m already watching and listening to and, others I anticipate in the future on the Facebook Live Audio platform.

For example, if you read or play original content created by someone else, for any reason and for any length of time, you may be in violation of the creators IP rights. This includes reading a book, blog post, or playing music in the background. The easy solution is as follows: If you didn’t create the content, don’t use it without the written permission of the owner or person with legal use rights.

Yes, there is the Fair Use Doctrine that permits the use of someone else’s copyrighted material, but the exceptions are narrow and the law is gray. Don’t count too much on this exception protecting you unless (1) your lawyer is better than the other side’s lawyer and (2) you have more money than the other side to win your case in court (sarcasm).

Terms of Service (TOS) Agreements

Facebook has a Terms of Service (TOS) Agreement that applies to Facebook Live Audio. It prohibits users from violating the copyright of others. It’s part of the DMCA Safe Harbor provisions that protect Facebook and not you.

If you go live and share copyrighted material, you may be liable to the creator of the content and, you may also be in violation of the TOS Agreement. Facebook can suspend your account or shut you down for a violation of its TOS Agreement.

If you repurpose your Facebook Live Audio broadcast on other platforms like Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram and Snapchat, their TOS Agreements allow for the same action. Depending on how and why you use your social media platforms, this could be devastating to your reputation, success, or business.

Music

If you play music during your Facebook Live Audio and didn’t get permission from the creator of the music (writer, band, license holder, management company), you will in all likelihood be in violation of a copyright. This includes background music or using Facebook Live Audio to share an evening of live karaoke which I see all the time with livestreaming video. Keep in mind that just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t make it right or legal.

Similar to the TOS Agreement mentioned above, if you go live from a concert or stadium and share protected music with your audience, you’ll probably be in violation of one or more intellectual property rights. While the venue may have secured a public-performance license through ASCAP or BMI (songwriters’ associations), and may have the legal right to record and play the music, you don’t.

In addition to copyright issues, there’s also a valuable “right of publicity” that an artist may be able to protect. Under this theory, Katy Perry may argue her voice or music played in the background during your Facebook Live Audio is part of her image or brand, and only she has the right to benefit from that image or brand. This is a relatively new and untested area of law. It appears to me that artists such as Katy Perry would be on strong legal grounds should they decide to hold offending Facebook Live Audio users liable.

Other legal arguments musicians and bands may assert for the unauthorized use of their music during a Facebook Live Audio include violations of the “Lanham Act” (confusion or dilution of a trademark through unauthorized use) and “False Endorsement” (implies that the artist supports a product or your broadcast).

Pro Tip: Create Your Own Brand Sound and Music

If you’re looking to compliment your Facebook Live Audio or business branding with music or sound, avoid all of the above hassles and create your own!

I recommend you take a close look at Signature Tones. It’s a sonic branding studio that works with organizations to create and use music and sound to establish a unique and memorable identity. Created by friend, marketing strategist, international sales and marketing speaker, and bestselling author David Meerman Scott and recording artist, live music performer, and music creative director Juanito Pascual, Signature Tones is your one stop solution to creating an audio brand you own and that your audience will never forget.

Conclusion

We tell our clients not to use any audio, including music, during their Facebook Live Audios that they did not create or, obtain permission from the creator or owner to use. When they claim that the Fair Use Doctrine will protect them, we remind them of the limited scope and protection this doctrine provides.

Best practices are to (1) get permission before using someone else’s audio content or (2) use licensed or royalty free audio (for example, services like Shutterstock).

Facebook Live Audio is a fantastic tool. Enjoy it and use it often. But when you do, respect the IP rights of all sounds, music or other material that you directly or indirectly share over the platform.

TheShow.live (my weekly live video show). Last week’s topic: “How to Use Facebook Live Audio” with Jennifer Quinn and Rachel Moore