Chavez, Barnard Examine Social Media's Legal Risk for Companies, Third Parties in Bloomberg Law

08.04.2023

Stinson LLP Partner David Barnard and attorney Adrianna Chavez authored a guest column for Bloomberg Law, "Social Media's Rise Makes Insurance Crucial for Most Companies."

The article provides legal insight into the increase of companies requiring social media influencers who promote their brands and products to purchase general liability insurance. The attorneys also discuss the legal risks of maintaining an online media presence and detail how new insurance strategies are progressing to spread the risk fairly among companies and their social media content providers.

"The digital stage has redefined the rules of engagement for how companies and consumers interact. With the 'likes' and 'shares' come legal risks of being a media company—especially when media isn't part of your core business. The types of legal issues associated with publishing this content are myriad and can be surprisingly fraught," the attorneys write. "While a company's own general liability insurance may provide sufficient coverage, it's reasonable to ask third parties who provide commercial content to have their own insurance to cover any claims that arise from the content they provide."

With the variety of social media and online marketing content published by companies, in order to mitigate risk, the attorneys suggest companies consult with an attorney and work with an insurance broker about risk profiles and recommendations to help cover the risks associated with maintaining a social media profile.

Barnard is an experienced litigator who has first-chaired patent, trademark, false advertising, copyright, trade secret and other commercial disputes in courts throughout the nation. He leverages his knowledge of patent, trademark and advertising law enforcement and defense to inform his case-by-case approach to litigation and to counsel clients on intellectual property portfolio strategy, risk management and agreements.

Chavez focuses her practice on working with clients on a variety of intellectual property matters, including brand protection, software copyright ownership and intellectual property infringement disputes. She represents plaintiffs and defendants across multiple industries in trademark, trade secret, copyright, patent and false advertising cases in federal courts nationwide.

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