Join the Social Media Club of Kansas City in the lovely Jazz Club at the Majestic for our inaugural pro lunch session featuring attorney and SMCKC member Cheryl Burbach, partner at the Overland Park-based intellectual property law firm Hovey Williams LLP.

Cheryl will explain the basics of IP law and how it applies to your social media programs.

Your lunch admission will include entree, drink, and tip. Entrees will be chosen from four options off the Majestic's excellent regular lunch menu. A vegetarian option will be available.

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Program description:

Fair Use or Foul Play? Keeping Your Social Media Campaign on the Right Side of Copyright Law

Cheryl Burbach, Hovey Williams LLP

Somewhere in your office right now, one of your coworkers is conducting a Google image search, hitting Ctrl+C, and pasting that image into a blog post. Another of your colleagues is posting a comparison on your company's Facebook page of your competitor's services using the competitor's logos. Meanwhile your company has launched a new brand for one of its services, unknowing that someone else owns conflicting trademark rights.  

None of these people understand that what they are doing may be a violation of copyright and/or trademark laws, and could expose the company and its client(s) to civil penalties. The intellectual property owners fire off infringement lawsuits. No phone call or "cease and desist" letter. Just an invitation to join them in federal court to answer for your sins.

Social media has transformed the way we communicate and build relationships. It’s also made copyright and trademark infringement effortless. Most of the time, it takes the form of an innocent mistake made by somebody who has no clue what the law says about these things. But that doesn’t make them immune to liability.