Intellectual Property In Social Media: Not As Straightforward As It Seems

In this week's voicethread, we tackled the issues of Intellectual Property (IP) and related concerns on Social Media. I feel that it is indeed an opportune time to think about these issues as we grapple with the utility of what social media can do for us in this course, as well providing a timely reminder to how we create and reuse materials while experimenting with different online tools.

As I had briefly commented in the voicethread, I believe that the general population who are active on social networks or other online platforms do not actually think much about IP issues when they are connecting, interacting or conducting business in social media. In most cases, we can also argue that the majority of people would appear to adopt a nonchalant or "heck-care" attitude towards IP issues on social media. There are several reasons which I could possibly think of to explain such blatant disregard to play by the rules.

1. Lack of Education on the issues.
Firstly, the complexity of IP rights and its associated rules, regulations and definitions may prove to be the first stumbling block for a lot of people, even for the learned population. Without understanding the issues and its consequences, it would be unrealistic to expect social media users to abide by the rules; in a similar vein, without having clarity on the rules (dos and don'ts), it would almost be impossible to teach and expect users to adopt the correct approaches to IP on social media.

2. Lack of Regulation on the Internet.
The onus may be on social media users to do the right thing, but the lack of regulation and policing in the digital environment may be to blame for users' seemingly lack of regard for IP rights and giving credit or proper attribution for reuse of materials. In addition, the supposed gaps on the laws governing online communities may have contributed to the attitudes and behaviors of today's social media users, and hence tightening such laws and standardization of IP regulations may just be the catalyst to improve the situation and provide solutions to the issues in the social media space.

3. "Ideals" of Social Media. 
The proliferation of social media has been a boon for many people; business owners, celebrities, newsmakers, communities, etc. But it is also the connectivity, ease of sharing and constant spread of ideas and information in the digital landscape; all part of the ideals of social media that support the growth of our online activities. Social Media and networking is envisaged to be a fast, efficient and high frequency endeavor in a seemingly free environment. Therefore from this perspective, placing too much thoughts and considerations on IP concerns every time one engages in an online activity may be considered rather counter-intuitive to these ideals.

Having said all these, I hope I do not come across as coming up with excuses, but rather creating an opportunity to sensitize ourselves to the pertinent issues of IP in the online environment. To address the root of the problem, users need to be educated and encouraged to adopt the correct approaches to navigating IP issues in social media.