Live video streaming, a way to create a social media buzz or legal alarm bells?

This year's major buzz in the social media world has been live video streaming. Periscope, Meerkat, Twitch and YouNow allow you to broadcast to the world in real time. This may all sound very exciting as new way of bringing your organisation/brand to life but our Social Media Council member Ben Dunham from Osbourne Clarke has a few words of warning.

- Get consent from anyone being shown on a Periscope video before featuring them (including parental consent and a local council order if showing children).

- Check that the location permits filming – where entry is subject to T&Cs (e.g. at a ticketed attraction), filming may be in breach of these T&Cs.

- Even though Periscope etc. are less formal than a fully-produced video ad, it will still be regarded as an ad if it promotes a product or service. Therefore, there is still a requirement to comply with the CAP Code. In particular, the stream will need to be “obviously identifiable as a marketing communication”, so if there is any doubt about this (e.g. if a celeb is paid to stream on behalf of a brand), use #ad or #spon.

- Streaming artwork, logos, songs in the background, could be an inadvertent infringement of someone else’s intellectual property rights so keep this in mind.

It’s all too easy for organisations/brands to get carried away using the latest free marketing tool however, just because it might be a free tool doesn’t mean the law doesn’t apply.