Author's Right, Copyright and Free Licenses for Culture on the Web/Web Tools/Social Network

84. What is social media or a social network?

It is a website providing IT services or technologies and other tools widespread on the Internet, which allows users to set up a virtual social network in which to share and exchange texts, images, video and audio, interacting with each other.

85. What is the difference between a Page, Profile and Group?

Overall, Pages are electronic places where individuals or organizations can publish and interact with users or visitors. To have an institutional page it is necessary to have a personal profile as a user of social media, which is a digital space in which the owner can share texts, images, videos, indicating the nature of the owner of the page itself (e.g. cultural institution, public figure) and other information. Also to create a Group, it is necessary to have a personal Profile to which different roles can be associated, e.g. as an administrator or moderator: the Group allows you to dedicate the sharing of texts, images, videos, to specific topics of common interest to the members or invited.

86. What rules should I respect for posting or for a live streaming in my social networks?

Each social media or social network has specific and different rules, to which are added the general rules provided for by domestic and European Union law. It is always advisable to check the terms and conditions of the social media or network, before posting or going live streaming.

87. Who is the author of the uploaded or shared content?

The author is and remains the person who creates or the licensee of the contents. Those who publish are presumed to have received the author's consent to publish or share. Sometimes this consent is implicit if the author of the Page, Profile or Group has authorized the sharing of the contents, accepting such tool in the section of the social media or network dedicated to privacy management.

88. What precautions should be taken before publication?

Check that the "share" tool exists and, as a precaution, consent to sharing via private message or in the "comments" function may be requested.

89. May I freely share or exchange, download, upload or re-use, copy, modify, publish contents (photographs, videos, images, sounds, drawings, meme, writings, symbols, logos) disseminated on social media or should I verify if they are protected by copyright?

It is allowed only if the author and/or the platform allows it. It is always advisable to ask the author or obtain prior written consent, even if by informal way (e.g. via e-mail or message).

Author's Right, Copyright and Free Licenses for Culture on the Web
Introduction to the FAQs • I – Definitions
II – Types of Content (Photographs • 2D-3D Reproductions • Texts • Databases • Open Data • Audio Content)
III – Web Tools (Podcast and Webinar • Sharing • Websites • Domain Name • App • Social Network • Instant Messaging)
IV – Licenses and Reuse (Data and Licenses • Images of Cultural Goods in Public Domain • Open Access and License)
V – Problems and Solutions (Infringements • Contracts and Consents • Legal Notices • Exceptions)