Regulating Content on Social Media: Copyright, Terms of Service and Technological Features

How are social media users influenced by platform when creating content, and does this influence determine whether or not they comply with copyright laws? These are pressing questions in today’s internet age, and Regulating Content on Social Media answers them by analyzing social media use from a copyright perspective. Corinne Tan compares the regulation of copyright laws across selected social media platforms—Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, and Wikipedia—with other regulatory factors such as the terms of service and the technological features of each platform. This comparison enables her to explore how each platform affects the role copyright laws play in securing compliance from their users. Through empirical research and a hypothetical case study detailing the social media activities of user Jane Doe, the book argues that, in spite of copyright laws’ purported regulation, users are encouraged by the social media platforms themselves to behave in ways that may be inconsistent with the law.

The first book to look at how social media platforms affect users’ compliance with copyright laws, Regulating Content on Social Media is a timely addition to the current media landscape.