President Donald Trump’s comments on Charlottesville during a press conference Tuesday in Trump Tower were remarkable…in the worst way possible.

Not only did Trump equate the counter-protesters (whom he labeled the “alt-left”) to the torch-carrying nazis, but he defended the white nationalists and expressed sympathy for their demonstration against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

“This week it’s Robert E. Lee,” Trump told reporters. “I notice that Stonewall Jackson’s coming down,” he added, referring to another famous Confederate commander.

“I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?”

Many were appalled by the statements, but there were some–like former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke–who praised the president. However, it was a tweet from actor James Woods likening the toppling of a racist statue to the destruction of democracy that inspired a massive meme clap back.

Before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/juArhCpiXl

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) August 14, 2017

“Before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time…,” read the the tweet, which was paired with a photo of the Marine Corps War Memorial.

Awed by the sheer ridiculousness of such a tweet, it didn’t take long for the “#liberals” to swipe Woods’ caption and troll him with his own words. Here are some of my favorites:

Michael Jackson and Bubbles Sculpture

Before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/7n7V0Gnc9w

— Heidi Hits Children (@heiditron3000) August 15, 2017

Man Assaulting Creepy Green Babies 

Before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/M67xuXFhCL

— Anthony Oliveira (@meakoopa) August 15, 2017

This Bronze Bust of Cristiano Ronaldo

Before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/0JqE5obRJj

— Freddie Campion (@FreddieCampion) August 15, 2017

A Giant Butt Plug

before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/8GzpoF0LCK

— Goth Ms. Frizzle (@spookperson) August 15, 2017

This Lindsay Lohan Wax Figure That Tried to Impersonate Beyoncé

before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/I9zbhn5yzf

— corey (@corey4evrfamous) August 15, 2017

And Who Could Forget This Gem…

Before the #Liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you would like to see it one last time… pic.twitter.com/8ltPIoGFeJ

— Victor Vega (@Cpt_ShitPost) August 16, 2017

The compilation of wacky sculpture memes managed to make light of the monument debate, but don’t count on a ceasefire from either side. Confederate-era symbols were removed overnight in Baltimore, and a plaque honoring Robert E. Lee was taken down in Brooklyn on Wednesday.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post “Before the #Liberals” Meme Trolls Actor With Wacky Monuments appeared first on Law Street.

Donald Trump Jr. decided early on not to measure himself against his father https://t.co/HXIxaRxHOV

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 19, 2017

While Donald Sr. has shown he’s comfortable with stump speeches, Don Jr. seems very uncomfortable on his stump. Needless to say, Twitter latched on to the meme-ready image, mercilessly mocking him and his lumberjack attire.

@JordanFreiman noticed that Don Jr.’s sitting troubles go far beyond just stumps.

how is he so bad at sitting? pic.twitter.com/Jg7cTMfDcc

— Jordan Freiman (@JordanFreiman) March 18, 2017

Callum Cleary

Callum is an editorial intern at Law Street. He is from Portland OR by way of the United Kingdom. He is a senior at American University double majoring in International Studies and Philosophy with a focus on social justice in Latin America. Contact Callum at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Twitter Roasts Donald “Stump” Jr. With Viral Meme appeared first on Law Street.

House Speaker Paul Ryan likely didn’t wake up this morning expecting to become a viral meme, but that’s exactly what happened.

During a press conference earlier today, Ryan delivered a presentation to explain the GOP’s proposed Obamacare replacement, the American Health Care Act. The house speaker used an old-school PowerPoint to explain key points with graphs and visual aides.

It didn’t take long before Twitter, trained to sniff out prime, meme-worthy blank canvases, offered up some alternative visual aides for Ryan’s presentation. Check out the top ten funniest Paul Ryan PowerPoint memes below!

10. Certified dab pro

Paul Ryan just gave a PowerPoint Presentation… pic.twitter.com/iOqvtglEhe

— President Goodtime (@SethGoodtime) March 9, 2017

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Twitter Made Paul Ryan’s PowerPoint Presentation 100 Times Better appeared first on Law Street.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump signed an order that will reinstate the Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule. It will prohibit international aid groups that receive U.S. funding from providing information about abortions. The fact that Trump, surrounded by other middle-aged white men, signed legislation concerning women’s bodies and reproductive health caused a lot of reactions worldwide. The photo in question looked like this:

As long as you live you’ll never see a photograph of 7 women signing legislation about what men can do with their reproductive organs pic.twitter.com/dXjfVjnRiX

— Martin Belam (@MartinBelam) January 23, 2017

A group of French feminists, calling themselves 52, reacted strongly to the news and created the perfect response. The group took a photo of Hillary Clinton signing papers and merged it with a 2009 photo of President Obama, surrounded by a group of WASPs, female fighters from World War II. They posted the result with the headline, “BREAKING NEWS: In the US ejaculation for non-procreative purposes is now forbidden.”

Imagine the outrage if a room for full of women signed a law legislating men’s sexual organs. Amazing work by French group 52 #marchforlife pic.twitter.com/PtLTVDqLea

— Athena (@AthenaJo_) January 27, 2017

A member of 52, who goes only by Sophie, said that the photo is clearly a joke, but that they made it “to ridicule something that boggles the mind: For centuries, it’s been men who dictate women’s bodies.” She said that men constantly tell women what to do and how to look. And Donald Trump just reversed what progress has been made in recent years by signing this legislation. “This picture of the president shows very well how men get to dictate the rights women have,” Sophie said. “It really wound us up.”

According to many studies, making abortion illegal doesn’t lead to fewer abortions. A ban will only lead to women seeking unsafe abortions that could kill them.

The global gag rule forces healthcare providers around the world to make impossible choices. pic.twitter.com/qPISbonqZW

— Planned Parenthood (@ppsworegon) January 27, 2017

The women founded the group in September and adopted their name because women make up 52 percent of France’s population. They held their first demonstration in France in January, aiming to achieve more empowerment for women. Their photo creation has become hugely popular in only a few days, but will any male politicians actually listen?

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Meet the French Feminists Who Created a Viral Parody Photo appeared first on Law Street.

Pepe the Frog started out as a funny, green Internet frog that often featured the caption, “feels good, man,” but on Tuesday he made it onto the Anti-Defamation League’s database of hate symbols. He first appeared in the online cartoon “Boys Club” by Matt Furie back in 2005, and then spread across the internet. Over the years he became popular generally, but during the past few months he has appeared in many memes associated with racism, anti-Semitism, and far-right ideology.

This is what the original Pepe looked like.

Pepe the frog will always be feels good man to me pic.twitter.com/BC6oNNdSp2

— Anarcho-Biden (@Anarcho_Biden) September 28, 2016

Almost ten years after his creation, by the end of 2014, Pepe was widespread in the mainstream online community, where he appeared in various different contexts and outfits. Then, the use of Pepe among white supremacists increased and he often appeared as Donald Trump. As the 2016 elections neared, he was shown as Trump on the American side of a fence at the Mexican border, posing as Trump at a lectern, or adorned with swastikas.

Even Trump himself reposted one image.

“@codyave: @drudgereport @BreitbartNews @Writeintrump “You Can’t Stump the Trump” https://t.co/0xITB7XeJV pic.twitter.com/iF6S05se2w“

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2015

And according to one man that the Daily Beast interviewed over email, going by his Twitter name @JaredTSwift, this shift was intentional. The purpose was to reclaim Pepe from the mainstream and the “normies.” “Normies” are ordinary, mainstream people who, when they start frequently using a meme, kill the joke. The move to start radicalizing Pepe so that no “normies” would dare to use him again was a very conscious Internet movement, according to @JaredTSwift.

Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, said in a statement on Tuesday:

Once again, racists and haters have taken a popular Internet meme and twisted it for their own purposes of spreading bigotry and harassing users. These anti-Semites have no shame. They are abusing the image of a cartoon character, one that might at first seem appealing, to harass and spread hatred on social media.

When everyone says you a hate symbol but you just a sad af frog. #pepethefrog pic.twitter.com/AGJ4saPNGG

— HorseHeadventure (@HorseHeadvnture) September 28, 2016

But Pepe’s creator, artist Matt Furie, thinks the far-right wing use of Pepe is just a “passing phase.” He said in an interview with the Atlantic:

It’s people reapproppriating things for their own agenda. That’s just a product of the Internet. And I think people in whatever dark corners of the Internet are just trying to one up each other on how shocking they can make Pepe appear.

He described Pepe as a good guy: “The comic itself is just mellow, he’s just a chill frog and is pretty good natured.”

And as ADL points out, just using a Pepe meme doesn’t mean that somebody is racist or hateful. Since the green frog can be used to express a wide range of opinions or feelings, the context and specifics of any meme would have to be taken into consideration before drawing any conclusions.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Pepe the Frog is Now on ADL’s List of Hate Symbols appeared first on Law Street.

At a campaign event for Bernie Sanders on Friday in Portland, Oregon, something happened that seemed like it would be more in place in a Disney movie than an election event. A bird landed right on Sanders’ podium, leading to raucous cheers from the crowd.

The clip is endearing–Sanders takes his feathered friend’s visit in stride, claiming that the little bird (which the Audubon Society noted was a female House Finch) landing on the podium is really a dove symbolizing world peace. And because pretty much everything that happens in this campaign ends up going viral, the hashtag #BirdieSanders started trending:

Oh man. I have been laughing at this for 15 minutes now. #BirdieSanderspic.twitter.com/KS6bjPb8jn

— Elias Toufexis (@EliasToufexis) March 26, 2016

#BirdieSanders makes my heart flutter. pic.twitter.com/LqO0vRHwf2

— Shab Asgharnia (@shabdamn) March 26, 2016

The Little Bermaid and his BFF, #BirdieSanders pic.twitter.com/R6XK0v4AMU

— Matthew Inman (@Oatmeal) March 26, 2016

#BirdieSanders Nature always knows what’s up ❤️ #FeelTheBern pic.twitter.com/WN94ek4Ps8

— Sunny Bone OH! (@sunnyboneoh) March 25, 2016

Popes have been chosen over less #BirdieSanders

— bernie bro (real) (@anfeardathuil) March 25, 2016

My favorite so far #BirdieSanderspic.twitter.com/cI4tfReOzt

— Bernie Tweeters (@Tehelmin) March 26, 2016

It’s a little ironic that the rally was in Portland, given that the hit sketch show “Portlandia,” which takes a satirical look at the city, once aired a sketch about how you can make an item popular by “putting a bird on it.”

The fact that #BirdieSanders went viral so quickly, again shows the dominance the Vermont Senator has when it comes to millennials. As the Observer put it:

Mr. Sanders dominates his competition on Facebook, and news in favor of him trends more often than any other presidential candidate. A recent Washington Post analysis found Mr. Sanders received over 300,000 more votes from people under the age of 30 than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton combined.

Sanders also had a good weekend politically speaking, winning some notable victories in Washington, Hawaii, and Alaska–maybe that bird did bring him some extra good luck after all.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post #BirdieSanders Inspires New Election Memes appeared first on Law Street.

Almost everyone recognizes the familiar mug of Grumpy Cat, a.k.a. Tardar Sauce. But what you might not know is that her likeness is actually owned by a company, Grumpy Cat Ltd., a multi-millionaire dollar merchandising brand. Now, Grumpy Cat Ltd. is suing a coffee company, Grenade Beverages, over copyright claims.

The lawsuit was filed in a federal court, the Central District of California. According to its lawsuit, Grumpy Cat Ltd. gave Grenade Beverages permission to use Grumpy Cat’s likeness and photo for a particular beverage: the “Grumpy Cat Grumppuccino.” However, Grumpy Cat Ltd. is claiming that Grenade overstepped that agreement, and used Grumpy Cat’s likeness for other products, including ground coffee beans, despite the fact that Grumpy Cat Ltd. specifically told it not to.

The complaint filed by Grumpy Cat Ltd. goes into Grumpy Cat’s meteoric rise to success in a way that is truly entertaining to discover in legal papers. The complaint states:

After a picture of Grumpy Cat was posted to the internet in 2012, her name and likeness spread like wildfire across the globe garnering worldwide media attention. GrumpyCat has since appeared in numerous major television shows (including Today, Good Morning America, American Idol, and The Bachelorette,) has been featured on the front page of major periodicals such as The Wall Street Journal and New York Magazine, starred in advertisements for Cheerios and McDonalds, starred in her own Lifetime Television Christmas movie, “authored” three (3) books that debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list, and even has her own animatronic waxwork at MadameTussauds in San Francisco.

The lawsuit also accuses Grenade Beverages of something called cybersquatting. According to International Business Times that means “running a website domain that takes advantage of a trademark belonging to someone else. Grenade Beverages’ website is grumpycat.com. Grumpy Cat Ltd.’s website is grumpycats.com.”

Grenade Beverages’ partner Paul Sanford told Eater that “there isn’t a single factual allegation contained in the entire complaint, not one.” It will be interesting to see how this case fares in court, but it seems like Grumpy Cat’s company is in it to win it–the complaint even began: the “Defendants’ despicable misconduct here has actually given Grumpy Cat and her owners something to be grumpy about.”

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post A Strange Tail: Grumpy Cat Sues Coffee Maker for Copyright Infringement appeared first on Law Street.

On Monday, while touring Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, Pope Francis gave a heartfelt speech to a crowded mosque where he spoke of unity saying, “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters.” However, it wasn’t the speech that resonated most with people, but the photo of him speaking that went viral.

An image of the Pope gesturing while cupping a microphone quickly began to circulate social media, and it didn’t take long before users started saying the picture looked like the pope was prepping to spit a few rap bars.

Cue #PopeBars.

People quickly started using the picture and the trending hashtag to showcase some of their favorite papal-themed rap lyrics–and yes, they were hilarious. So without further ado, check out the slideshow below for ten of the top papal-themed rap lyrics from the hashtag.

#PopeBars I like it when you call me Big Papal (Throw your hands in the air, if youse a true pray-er) pic.twitter.com/tBiEUXCFMx

— BigHeadSports (@BigHeadSports) November 30, 2015

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post #PopeBars: Pope Francis Sparks Viral Lyrical Hashtag appeared first on Law Street.

Missed out on some of the most interesting news last week? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. From satirical gateway drugs to a city overrun by clowns, last week was certainly one for the books. Writer Anneliese Mahoney took the top two spots with her reporting on police who struck out in their drug searches but came out with a handful of okra and some frisbee equipment, as well as a look t the city of Wasco, California, which may or may not be crawling in clowns; Alexandra Badalamenti write the number three post of the week on Hershey’s lawsuit against the maker of Hashees, a curiously similarly named weed edible. ICYMI, here is Law Street’s Best of the Week.

#1 Frisbees and Okra: The New Gateway Drugs

The national attitude towards pot has been evolving for some time now. Marijuana has now officially been decriminalized in a number of states, and even legalized in two: Oregon and Washington. But even as our national view towards marijuana changes, our misperceptions don’t necessarily follow suit. This split has led to a couple funny stories making the national news this week. One directly relates to those aforementioned stereotypes. A video in Ankeny, Iowa has been making its rounds on the internet. In it, a police officer tries to search a driver’s car, because apparently, people who play disc golf also smoke weed. (Read full article here)

#2 What’s the Deal With the Clown Problem in Wasco, California

If you’re a member of the Wasco California Police Department, you’ve had an interesting week. Wasco, near Bakersfield, has been all over the news for an interesting problem it’s having. But is it actually a problem, or a weird hoax turned viral? Google it and you’ll see a bunch of headlines about crazy clowns terrorizing the town and stalking people. (Read full article here)

#3 Hershey’s Settles Trademark Suit With Hashees Marijuana Edibles Maker

The Hershey Company has settled a lawsuit and simultaneously protected millions of little children across the country from becoming future cannabis users. The maker of the legendary chocolate Kiss, Peppermint Patty, and (my personal favorite) Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup settled a suit against marijuana candy manufacturer TinctureBelle LLC. Filed this summer, the suit was in response to TinctureBelle’s “medicated gourmet edibles,” many of which boast names allegedly mimicking those of the Hershey Company’s treats. (Read full article here)

Chelsey D. Goff

Chelsey D. Goff was formerly Chief People Officer at Law Street. She is a Granite State Native who holds a Master of Public Policy in Urban Policy from the George Washington University. She’s passionate about social justice issues, politics — especially those in First in the Nation New Hampshire — and all things Bravo. Contact Chelsey at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post ICYMI: Best of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

If you’re a member of the Wasco California Police Department, you’ve had an interesting week. Wasco, near Bakersfield, has been all over the news for an interesting problem it’s having. But is it actually a problem, or a weird hoax turned viral?

Google it and you’ll see a bunch of headlines about crazy clowns terrorizing the town and stalking people. Here’s a news report showing some of the images:

I’ve never been particularly scared of clowns, but it’s hard to find those images anything other than disturbing. The story has been widely covered by a bunch of networks and websites with the perspective that a bunch of people are dressing up as maniacal clowns and then wandering around Wasco and neighboring towns scaring the shit out of people.

The details here are really hard to untangle, but what we do know is at least some of the pictures being attributed to this craze are from an art project created by a Wasco artist and her husband. She photographed him dressed as a clown in different places — a fun and creepy art piece. Then, the pictures started spreading, especially on social media. Someone made a Wasco Clown Facebook page, ostensibly at this point still referring to the art subject.

At some point, some people may have started co-opting the viral pictures and actually dressing up as clowns and posing around the area, sometimes with bats or other things that could be possibly be used as weapons. There are claims of 20 or so sightings in recent days, and a 14-year-old boy was just arrested for dressing up like a clown and then scaring a child in his neighborhood. He has been cited with “annoying a minor.”

News networks have taken the coverage of these disturbances and run with them — understandably so. It’s a few weeks before Halloween. Clowns are creepy, and pretty consistent horror movie fodder. Apparently there’s something called “Coulrophobia,” which means fear of clowns — though it isn’t completely accepted as a real phobia, despite the large number of people who get the heebie-jeebies from red noses and curly wigs.

Theories vary about why clowns unsettle people so much, and really the phenomenon is strange — I don’t think I can think of a figure who walks the line so fluidly between humor and fun and fear and loathing. No one is really sure why clowns have occupied that place in our collective psyche, although a prevailing theory seems to attribute it to what clowns are at their essence: something dark and grotesque writ humorous. After all, with a clown we never know what’s under the mask? And they invoke the question, why would a normal person want to look and act that way?

But back to Wasco — what’s really going on there? Police truly aren’t saying much beyond that this is just an internet hoax that’s made its way mainstream and is gaining copycats. With the exception of the 14-year-old boy who scared his neighbor, there haven’t been any arrests. There’s also been no indication of violence. Wasco police are checking out the reports of course, but there’s no indication this is anything different than say, the trend of planking a few years back. The reason for the news coverage appears to be mostly sensationalism and morbid fascination. So anyone in the Bakersfield area, don’t worry, your town isn’t turning into a scene from “It” anytime soon.

Unless, of course the Wasco clowns have the police department hostage and are forcing them to say these things….

—

Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [John Ryan Brubaker via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post What’s the Deal With the Clown Problem in Wasco, California? appeared first on Law Street.

Memes are fun–they’re customizable, shareable, and all over the internet. But they do bring up some important questions about copyright laws and photo ownership. For example, many of you have probably seen the “confused face girl” meme that has gone viral all over social media. While most people find this meme utterly hilarious, a news story spread last week that the “face” of the meme–a girl named Keisha Johnson–wasn’t laughing. In fact, she supposedly tried to sue Instagram for $500 million for copyright infringement and defamation because people keep using a picture of her posted on Instagram as a meme. This story ended up being a fake, created by the satirical news outlet OD Gossip, but news organizations who didn’t know any better still picked it up.

Thanks Hundike

Here were the made-up details of Johnson’s legal battle:

The 16-year-old Alabama native was just hanging out with her friends when one of them took a bad photo of her and uploaded it to Instagram. Almost instantly, the photo went viral and was shared on millions of profiles, including those of celebrities. In addition to turning the photo into a meme, people everywhere have been posing for their own “confused face” photos in apparent attempt to mock Johnson. Clearly embarrassed by the photo, Johnson said, “my face looked ugly like I was about to throw up. I look nothing like that in real life… I’m really a bad b*tch!”

While this made-up girl named Keisha Johnson did not, obviously, sue Instagram for $500 million, the story and resulting press attention got me thinking: what would happen if someone were to actually sue Instagram? Well, according to the Instagram terms and conditions that every user must agree to before they sign up for the social media site, people who use the network are responsible for the content that they choose to share.  Now in fairness, in the hypothetical story, Johnson was not the one who posted the photo. However, according to the terms, her friends would have been 100 percent responsible for choosing to embarrass their friend. So hypothetically, if the girl in the photo were to sue someone, it’s her friends who are responsible for deciding to post a bad photo of her, not Instagram.

The site OD Gossip also released another fake story about another fake lawsuit–this time over a selfie that was turned into a meme. According to OD Gossip, “Makayla Edwards,” known more commonly as the topless boy/girl face a** meme, has also decided to file a defamation lawsuit against Instagram. Just like the story about Johnson, this is a hoax, but there have been millions of photos posted to people’s Instagram accounts making fun of the meme. The photo has also popped up on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Now as previously established, the fake “Makayla Edwards” cannot sue Instagram for people choosing to repost her photo. But, is there anything stopping her from suing the people who reposted her photo? In order to figure this out, I looked into copyright laws and how they apply to social media selfies.

First, it’s important to understand the basic copyright laws for online images. Copyright attaches to a work, in this case an image, as soon as it is created. Unlike with patents and trademarks, people do not need to apply for a copyright, it’s automatic. So once you create an image–by drawing it, creating it on the computer, or by taking a photo–you have the rights to do whatever you want with it. This includes reproducing it, displaying it publicly, altering it, selling it, and distributing it.

But most of us don’t create our own images, we use ones created by others. In order to legally use someone else’s image, you must get express permission from the copyright owner and, once you get permission, give them proper credit for the image. Now, there are ways that you can legally use a copyrighted image without getting permission, such as by using one with a creative commons license, but these likely do not apply to social media photos.

So what are the rules when it comes to social media, where people constantly and publicly post their photos for anyone to see? According to Social Media Today, images posted on social media sites are still bound by copyright. This means that if you want to use or re-post someone else’s photo on Facebook or Instagram, you need their permission.

So these made-up lawsuits are not completely ridiculous–they probably could happen, although for way less money. However, if anyone has a reason to sue, it’s the person who took the picture, not the girl in it. And they wouldn’t be suing Instagram, but the millions of people who re-posted the photo without permission. Still, next time you snap a silly selfie, or take a bad picture of a friend, these rules are something to keep in mind.

—

Brittany Alzfan (@BrittanyAlzfan) is a student at the George Washington University majoring in Criminal Justice. She was a member of Law Street’s founding Law School Rankings team during the summer of 2014. Contact Brittany at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Shawn Ahmed via Flickr]

Brittany Alzfan

Brittany Alzfan is a student at the George Washington University majoring in Criminal Justice. She was a member of Law Street’s founding Law School Rankings team during the summer of 2014. Contact Brittany at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Memes and Selfies: Internet Trends Bring New Copyright Issues appeared first on Law Street.