Copyright and Shareability: A Contractual Solution to Embedding via Social Media

Abstract

An emerging change in judicial interpretation of copyright law threatens to unsettle well-settled expectations about the permissibility of embedding Internet content. Changes to the permissibility of embedding would inject uncertainty into a legal landscape that has proven foundational and has supported creators of all kinds. This jurisprudential shift would likely prompt social media platforms to alter the technological affordances offered to users, such as removing features that facilitate embedding. To preserve embedding affordances, this article offers a novel solution: model contractual language that platforms can adopt in their user agreements to license embedding and foster shareability. This article’s proposed licensing provisions would give clarity, precision, and predictability about the permissibility of embedding online, notwithstanding any change in judicial interpretations of copyright law.