How to Protect Users' Copyright Rights in the Age of Social Media Platforms and Their Unread Terms of Service
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How to Protect Users' Copyright Rights
in the Age of Social Media Platforms
and Their Unread Terms of Service
By MADELEINE PATTON*
There are few things worse about the web than being forced to
read thousands of words of dense legalese in order to upload a
photo or send a message to a friend. The typical TOS [Terms of
Service]-a legal necessity, but a human calamity-both enables
the Internet and sucks the life-force out of it, one run-on sentence
at a time.'
I. Introduction
THERE IS AN UNDERLYING CONTRADICTION between copy-
right protection and social media platforms, as copyright protection
restricts copying and social media platforms promote sharing.2 In or-
der for users to post their original content on social media platforms,
copyright law requires the platforms to have a license to display copy-
right protected work. Social media platforms grant themselves such a
license in their terms of service, that users are required to read and
agree to before they are able to use the platform and post content.
However, the problem is that social media platforms go beyond the
narrow license that is necessary and instead use terms of service to
* J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law (2019); B.A., Psychology, Gonzaga
University (2015). The author would like to thank Professor Karren Shorofsky for her
enthusiasm and guidance in writing this comment. The author would also like to thank
University of San Francisco's Law Review, particularly her fellow Editors, it has been truly
been an honor working with you. Special thanks to Ryan Louie 0. Manuel for his support
in bringing this piece to publication.
1. Megan Garber, Behold, a Terms of Service Agreement that Is Actually User-Friendly, THE
ATiANTIC (Apr. 12, 2012), https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/04/be
hold-a-terms-of-service-agreement-that-is-actually-user-friendly/255803/ [https://perma
.cc/8U79-5BR6].
2. H. Bosher & S. Yegiloglu, An Analysis of the Fundamental Tensions Between Copyright
and Social Media: The Legal Implications of Sharing Images on Instagram, INT'L Rv. L., COM-
PUTS. & TECH., 1-2 (2018).
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How to Protect Users' Copyright Rights in the Age of Social Media Platforms and Their Unread Terms of Service
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