ABSTRACT
Short-form videos have recently gained popularity thanks to social media platforms like TikTok. Some of the videos created by users go ‘viral’ and are ‘reproduced’ by others as they become trends on this platform. This article examines whether viral social media trends can warrant copyright protection and whether, by recreating such trends without permission, a potential infringement takes place. The idea-expression dichotomy will form the basis of the analysis so that the question is whether the infringer merely borrows an unprotected idea or rather copies a protectable expression …
Michela Galea, Inspiration or infringement? Social media ‘viral’ trends: a case study on TikTok, Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice. Published: 22 March 2024.
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