How new digital copyright law will affect brands that use social media

Simply put, this law will play a big role in our lives socially and in reality from now on. It will also affect how we share any content via social platforms, ending many things we have been doing up to now.
With such a big transformation at hand, some people may ask what the big hype about this law is. Why should it concern me?
Well, this law will affect everyone who is active on social media. This is very critical for Thailand, as Thais are very active when it comes to social-media participation. According to the Digital Advertising Association of Thailand, Thailand has more than 30 million active Facebook users, and 26 million of us check out YouTube every month.
To cope with such a sudden change, it would be best to understand the concept of the law and see how to adapt to it early on and benefit from it.
As a core essence of this law, pictures, videos, and text uploaded to the Internet will gain automatic copyright for the creator of the content. This means most of the content we see and enjoy on popular social platforms or webpages will be automatically owned by the original creator, producer or developer. It does not mean that we cannot share at all, but there are new rules we need to follow to do so properly and lawfully.
If you are a personal user of a social platform, you have a little more leniency than commercial users. You can keep sharing the content that you find interesting, but it would be best to credit the owner if applicable, and you should never re-upload someone else’s content as your own.
However, if you operate a commercial-related account on a social network, such as a brand page or e-commerce page, it will be a whole new ball game. It is understandable for branded social-media pages that their content is the most crucial element to entice fans. But with this new law, commercial users will need to end a lot previous practices and adopt new guidelines. Let’s go through popular content types to see how branded pages can adapt.
The first is the sharing of picture-related content. Under this law, commercial pages cannot share anything blindly any more. Unlike sharing between personal users, who can just credit the owner, branded pages need to secure permission from the original owner of any pictures, as it may result in a usage fee.
To avoid this in your future social campaigns, creating your own artwork for social usage is your best bet. Using your own pictures, graphics or icons will give you a unique edge over others, and it can also help define your page’s personality better.
The second is the sharing of video-related content. With 26 million active Thai YouTube viewers, there is no doubt that Thais enjoy video content very much. However, when operating a commercial social page, moderators cannot just embed any videos they find interesting on their pages any more, as the videos also have ownership rights.
It is recommended to post the link to the original video, as embedding may constitute infringement. But to avoid any problems, creating your own video would be better. Short videos not exceeding 15 seconds are an accepted social standard and can be made with little equipment or video-editing skills.
The third and last is the sharing of text-related content such as news or articles. Text can be shared easily and lawfully by simply pasting the link to the articles. Moderators of commercial pages should not copy and paste text on to their own pages. Again, writing your own articles and inserting your brand’s point of view or context will be better than simply pasting the work of others.
Though everything has an end, new approaches can also be found. This law is now proposing that social marketers do things properly and lawfully. Let’s use this ending as a new start of a brighter social future for all.

Maas Virajoti is group head, strategy and innovation, IPG Mediabrands Thailand.