Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace or social
networking services such as Twitter can be powerful tools in
promoting action sports events and personalities. The demographics
of those sites and action sports fans mesh well and social media
can help keep fans engaged in an event or product through
promotional videos, athlete interviews, Twitter updates, blogs and
contests.
Most of the established action sports companies and athletes have
one or more footholds in social networking sites. ESPN's X
Games has a Facebook page with over 100,000 friends; there are
videos, comments from fans, and information about upcoming events.
Shaun White has over 50,000 followers on Twitter, and Tony
Hawk's is closing in on 2 million followers.
Social media might be great, but there are some very real legal
concerns that should be considered when using social media to help
market action sports.
First and foremost, users need to know each site's terms of
use. Some social networking sites limit a user's marketing and
promotions activities. For example, MySpace Terms & Conditions
state that "MySpace Services are for the personal use of
Members and may only be used for direct commercial purposes if they
are specifically endorsed or authorized by MySpace" and
"MySpace reserves the right to remove commercial content in
its sole discretion." Violation of terms of use can result in
account termination (which would be embarrassing if the site has
thousands of friends or fans) and even lawsuits. MySpace filed a
lawsuit against a company that sent commercial email messages to
MySpace members in violation of its terms of use.
A social networking site might also limit certain promotions.
Facebook requires users to get written permission before offering
any contest, sweepstakes or giveaway, and Facebook does not allow
users to administer the promotion on the Facebook site, other than
through applications connected through the Facebook Platform.
Social networking sites may also claim that they have a right to
use any content that users post on the site for any reason in any
medium forever. That means a social networking site could use
pictures, videos or quotes from a user's page or profile to
advertise its own services.
A social networking site's privacy policy also should be
considered. If fans are invited to participate in blogs or
contests, and are required to provide personal information, it
should be determined ahead of time if the social networking site
collects, uses or shares that information with third parties. If a
company has a privacy policy that says it won't share any
personal information, but the social networking site allows such
sharing, there is a possibility that the company would be violating
its own privacy policy and angering its fans and customers. Either
outcome can lead to lawsuits. Also, because action sports is
heavily youth-oriented, users of social networking sites need to be
especially aware of the Children's Online Privacy Protection
Act, which limits the online collection of personal information
from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent.
Once a presence on a social networking site is created, the page or
profile should be regularly monitored. There have been many
reported incidents of fraudulent messages posted on blogs, links
posted on corporate pages that link to computer viruses, and even
fake Twitter messages from prominent athletes. St. Louis Cardinals
manager Tony La Russa sued Twitter because someone sent tweets that
appeared to be from him. Twitter removed the fake messages and
settled the lawsuit with La Russa out of court.
Another legal issue is minimizing liability for content on a site
that has been provided by others, including user generated content.
If someone posts a defamatory comment on a Facebook fan page, or
posts a video on a YouTube channel that is copyrighted by someone
else, the owner of that social media site might be sued for
defamation or copyright infringement. One way to minimize liability
is to provide rules or guidelines for posting content that prohibit
defamatory statements and material copyrighted by someone else.
There also is a federal statute that can provide a "safe
harbor" from a lawsuit for copyright infringement for content
posted by someone else, but the benefits of the statute apply only
to those who take certain required steps under the statute such as
registering an agent with the U.S. Copyright Office and developing
a policy that allows a copyright owner to file a takedown
notice.
Another concern is violating advertising laws. Content on a social
networking site, whether posted by the site owner or users, can
lead to claims of false advertising. For example, if a skateboard
company were to claim that its skateboards were made with a
revolutionary material that will increase speed by 25%, the company
has to be able to prove that. Celebrity endorsements can also lead
to false advertising claims. There are federal rules that govern
what an endorsement should say, what has to be disclosed about paid
endorsers, and when substantiation is needed for claims made in an
endorsement. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently
issued new guidelines on celebrity endorsements that could affect
what appears on social media sites, including those focused on
action sports. For example, the new guidelines say that celebrity
endorsers can be sued for false advertising for making
unsubstantiated claims and that they should disclose when they are
being paid to endorse a product or service. The FTC suggests that
advertisers provide training to their endorsers and monitor
endorsements to make sure celebrity endorsers are following the
guidelines.
Conclusion
Social media is a perfect fit for promoting action sports, but the
consequences of jumping in without considering the legal issues can
be quite severe – including lawsuits, termination of your
page or channel, and the loss of fans' and customers'
goodwill. So before investing time and money developing social
media pages, profiles and channels, actions sports marketers should
invest a little time in understanding the legal issues and each
site's terms of use.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
