Wednesday 30 November 2011

Darren Olivier

Social media and IP

On Friday Afro Leo spoke at the Social Media Branding and Marketing conference co-ordinated by the super effecient Japhet Mushinge of the Conference Hub and chaired by Cindy Davidson of Feedback Media Afro Leo's slides can be located here. The conference was well attended and the twitter feedback unnervingly, instantaneous. These are a summary of the Leo's thoughts:

  • Do not ignore social media infringements – those that infringe your content and you/your employees infringing others
  • Register trade marks and copyright (where applicable)
  • Develop social media watches
  • Register relevant handles and user names
  • Take prompt action but be aware of alternatives eg legitimising infringers
    • don’t be whipped by the long tail by, for example, by being overly aggressive
    • don’t forget traditional solutions to online infringements
  • Develop a social media user policy
  • Engage your social media program with your domain name and bricks and mortar infringement program
  • Make use of the self help features on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook but seek advice before making a complaint 
During his research Afro Leo was particularly impressed by YouTube's Content ID program which can be viewed here. Unfortunately the Leo only had time to listen one of the talks before him but it was a very good one presented by Greg Comline - Executive, Digital Channels, Deloitte Consulting Pty Ltd - who explained how Deloitte had made considerable savings on recruitment using Linkedin, and how their sophisticated analytics around social media have enabled the company to get quality content into the right conversations, and ulitimately lead to more exposure and work.

Please stay in touch, next week Afro Leo (with the help of two local university students and some recent WIPO stats) considers 12 African Registries, and which one would be the most appealing to invest in.

Darren Olivier

Darren Olivier

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