Social Media and Copyright Law: Navigating AI, Fair Use, and Digital Rights

ABSTRACT:

In today’s digital era, social media has fundamentally transformed how content is created, shared, and consumed. While these platforms offer unprecedented opportunities for creators, they also introduce complex challenges—particularly in the realm of copyright. The ease of sharing and the rise of user-generated content have increased the risk of unintentional copyright infringement. This article explores major copyright concerns posed by social media, including unauthorized use of protected material, blurred lines around fair use, questions of content ownership, and the growing impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on content creation and rights.

It further examines how existing legal frameworks—such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)—interact with these new dynamics, and the evolving responsibility of social media platforms in enforcing copyright. The global nature of digital content also presents jurisdictional hurdles, as copyright laws vary widely between countries.

This piece discusses potential solutions, including improved copyright literacy, clearer legal guidelines, advanced detection technologies, and enhanced cooperation between copyright holders and platforms. It also reviews relevant case law and the debate between protecting intellectual property and preserving freedom of expression. Ultimately, the article argues that a balanced approach—one that safeguards creators’ rights while fostering a free and open digital environment—is essential to resolving ongoing copyright challenges in the age of social media and AI.

KEYWORDS: Copyright, Social media, Unauthorized use, AI.

INTRODUCTION:

Social media platforms have had a transformative influence on how users produce, disseminate, or interact with content in the digital economy. The evolution of media over recent decades has transformed the former hierarchy of publishing—where publishers, broadcasters, and other traditional content makers controlled the flow of information—to a more open, participatory ecosystem. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, etc. are platforms that allow billions of people around the world to explore their creativity, share their viewpoints, and engage in cultural discourse. But this new accessibility has also unmasked complicated situations that have stirred up longstanding legal and ethical foundations, especially in copyright.

Copyright, a legal scheme designed to protect creators’ intellectual property, has for centuries provided a backbone to cultural and creative industries. It, in essence, underpins creativity as it offers the creator some exclusive rights over an original piece of work so that he or she can make the most out of that original piece of work, both financially and morally. Nevertheless, within the broad, ever-evolving, and borderless digital space of social media, these traditional principles, on the whole, are being tested. The daily uploads, sharing, and remixing of millions of videos, images, memes, and songs, among others, coalesce into the effective nullification or obsolescence of traditional mechanisms of enforcement of copyright.

Concept of Copyright:

“Copyright is a type of legal protection affording rights to creators of works such as literature, music, films, visual arts, software, and others. It gives the authors the exclusive rights to control the usage, distribution, or alteration of their work. In India, the copyright law is governed by the Copyright Act of 1957. For instance, it has defined a computer program to be an instruction set that makes a computer do particular functions. The term “literary work” in this law includes computer programs, databases, and compilations.

Copyright applies to both offline and online works but does not apply to works that result from pure artificial intelligence (AI). It has been referred to as a bundle of rights because it gives the creator significant number of rights concerning his work.”[1]

The Scope of Copyright:

Copyright law provides creators exclusive rights to their original works, including reproduction, distribution, performance, and adaptation of the works. Such protections serve two basic purposes:

• The idea was to promote the invention of new works by letting the authors and inventors earn a profit.
• To encourage the public dissemination of knowledge and cultural creations.

However, on social media, the actual application of copyright becomes much more complicated. Whereas traditional media platforms, social media rely heavily on user-generated content (UGC), making the users part of the audience and the creators. This interactive model has blurred the borders of “original works” and “derivative works,” therefore calling into question several of our legal doctrines.

CHALLENGES IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA:

Unauthorized use:

Some users of social media platforms share images, videos, music, and articles with little or no proper authorization or attribution. Common copyright infringements include: Uncredited sharing of images and videos (Users frequently repost or share copyrighted images and videos without the creator’s consent); Music used in video and reels (Social media influencers and users mostly always add copyrighted background music without proper licensing); Pasting articles and blog posts (Much of the content from news websites, blogs, or books is copied and shared with little to no acknowledgment); Meme culture and copyright (In many cases, the source of many memes is taken from copyrighted images, films, or characters, which leads to issues of fair use and derivative works). The problem of reposting on Instagram is the widely missed practices that occur in between photography pages or influencers who repost professional photographers’ work without their permission. While requiring user consent, Instagram is not rigorously and strictly enforcing its own policies.

The Fair Use Doctrine and Its Barriers:

The fair use doctrine allows limited use of copyrighted works without permission by considering the following factors

• “Purpose and character (educational, commentary, or transformative use)
• Natures of the copyrighted work (factual vs. creative)
• Amount and substantiality used (using a short excerpt versus the entire work)
• Effect on the market value (if the use has an impact on the copyright owner’s income)”[2][3]

Some of the social media challenges of fair use include confusion regarding boundaries-crowd users are going to assume any form of non-commercial use must be allowable under fair use- which works against them when they do use it, some parameters set for automatic Removal of content act against a large section of people due to these automated filters so all others have to face the effects, and, parody options granted almost always find such content removed from platforms accepting the copyright complaint.[4]

Monetization and Copyright Conflicts:

With the ever-growing monetization potentials on social media, copyright conflicts are becoming more and more common, particularly related to:

1. YouTube’s Content ID System:
   It serves as a mechanism to catch the copyright owners from the pirated material and ensures the advertising revenues are redirected to those owners very often actively hurting other content creators.
2. TikTok Music Usage Problems:
   Numerous, countless individuals use copyrighted music in their videos that have never been properly licensed, and they face takedown notices[5]
3. Facebook & Instagram Reels:
   Meta began finalizing licensing agreements for top songs, yet some creators continue to see copyright removals.
4. Case Study:
   Many Twitch streamers have experienced great mass takedowns due to DMCA violations related to using background music throughout the streaming, forcing many others to delete years of content.[6]

The Challenge with Enforcement of Copyright:

“The enforcement of copyright on social media networks is difficult largely due to the following:

1. The volume of Content: The amount of content manually enforceable is limited since there are overwhelming Volumes of daily uploads”[7]
2. Global Jurisdiction Issues: Copyright laws differ across countries, leading to conflicts relating to the enforcement of the law.
3. Anonymity of Users: Many infringers are not identifiable, which makes it difficult for copyright owners to file a case against them.
4. Example: “Twitter/X and Copyright Takedowns Elon Musk’s X has faced criticism for slow enforcement of copyright takedown requests that allow copyrighted material to be re-shared throughout the carousel of copyright.”[8]

Digital Rights Management (DRM) vs. Open Access:

Several companies use Digital Rights Management (DRM) to prevent any copying or sharing of their products, something that is opposed to the nature of social media with its open sharing.

1. Key DRM vs. Social Media Conflicts:“People screenshot articles that are behind paywalls and freely distribute them. Like short streaming clips. AI Tokenization of Copyright Issues”[9]
2. Copyright Conflicts: The phenomenon of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) has given rise to cases whereby the artists’ work gets tokenized and sold for profit without prior permission.

AI-Generated Content and Copyright:

There exists a wide range of AI-powered tools, i.e., ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Deepfake software, that generate text, images, and videos. This raises a whole new set of copyright questions: Who owns AI-generated content? Some would argue it is the AI user while others argue that copyright pertains solely to the developers of AI.[10]

 The Copyright Infringement by AI Training Models: A lot of the time, they are being trained on copyrighted works leading to lawsuits; AI Reproducing the Works of Artists: Many images generated by AI tend to be replicas of real artists’ styles which become issues.

• Example: “Getty Images vs. Stability AI Lawsuit In the case of Getty versus Stability AI, Getty Images is suing Stability AI for allegedly training its AI model utilizing copyrighted images without proper permission.”[11][12]

Legal Precedents:

In the face of copywriting evolving, other important legal cases include the following: the R.G. Anand v. Delux Films (1978, India) decision:

It was established that ideas may not be copyrighted, but rather their expression”[13]

1.  Viacom v. YouTube decision (2010, U.S): This was to decide the extent of YouTube’s liability for copyright content uploaded by users;[14]
2. Warner Bros v. X (2023): This time, copyright controversies got a new twist when Warner Bros. sued X for not taking down pirated movies.[15]

SOLUTIONS:

Strengthen Copyright Laws and Regulations:

The governments ought to revise and refine copyright laws so that they suit the demands of a 21st-century society dependent on information technologies. The reforms needed:

• Harmonization of Copyright Laws: countries need to harmonize their copyright laws to limit jurisdictional conflicts in cross-border infringement cases.
• Clear Guidelines for AI Copyright: legislation should clarify whether AI-generated content is copyrightable and who owns the rights.
• Stronger DMCA Enforcement: reforms will have to guarantee a balance between preventing abuse and protecting fair use.
• New Fair Use Guidelines for social media: governments should describe how copyrighted content may be legally remixed in short-form content such as memes, remixes, and reaction videos.

Improve Copyright Detection and Enforcement for Social Media Platforms:

Social media platforms need to improve their detection and enforcement measures to lower the chances of unauthorized use of copyrighted content. Enhanced Technological Solutions:

• AI Copyright Detection: Platforms will use robust AI algorithms to detect copyrighted content while distinguishing fair use exemptions.
• Blockchain for Copyright Protection: Using blockchain, ownership records will be held, thus identifying the actual creators and preventing unauthorized use.[16]
• Enhanced Content ID systems: Automated detection systems like YouTube Content ID must be improved to lessen false claims made by copyright holders and judge the nature of fair use.
• Smart Watermarking Technology: This allows platforms to use invisible digital watermarks that allow tracking and ownership identification of images, videos, and music. TikTok’s Licensed Music Library allows creators to pre-approved songs without the risk of infringement of copyright.

Improving Licensing and Royalty Agreements:

Other ways could be done to allow a better discussion with platforms and copyright holders than merely responding with takedowns.

 Licensing Suggestions:

• Revenue Share: Platforms share ad revenue from copyrighted material, and the removal is avoided.
• Affordable Micro Licensing for Short-Form Content: Short video, meme, and music clip licensing should be easy and cheap.
• Global Copyright Registry: This is a licensing and tracking mechanism through a central registry where works are registered by creating orders. An example is Facebook and Instagram in partnership with music labels to legally allow users to add licensed music to stories and reels.

CONCLUSION:

The battle between social media and copyright law is about striking the scale between the protection of intellectual property and the promotion of creativity. User-generated content, AI-driven media, and monetization have rendered traditional methodologies of enforcement inadequate. Issues like unauthorized use, fair use confusion, and global enforcement challenges require modern solutions. Strengthening copyright laws, improving AI-driven detection, and fostering collaboration between creators, platforms, and copyright holders are key. That includes reinforcing copyright laws and AI detections; encouraging collaboration among creators, platforms, and copyright holders; adopting blockchain tracking; smarter identification of content; and licensing that is very equitable, sharing the income, micro-licensing, etc., to promote compliance without throttling innovation. In the end, however, the solution to social media copyright lies in collaboration. In creating legal clarity, utilizing technology, and promoting copyright literacy, we are bound to produce a more just digital environment where creators are protected while creative freedoms are honoured. When the lines between creator and consumer disappear, only a cooperative, legally viable, and technologically oriented mindset can sustain the generations of creativity while maintaining rights.

[1]https://www.yourlawarticle.com/post/challenges-of-copyright-enforcement-in-the-digital-age#:~:text=Challenges%20of%20copyright%20in%20the,from%20anywhere%20in%20the%20world.

[2]https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use

[3]https://www.informationweek.com/it-leadership/fair-use-worth-more-to-economy-than-copyright-ccia-says

[4]https://www.indiacode.nic.in/show-data?actid=AC_CEN_9_30_00006_195714_1517807321712&sectionId=14572&sectionno=52&orderno=70

[5]https://www.billboard.com/business/business-news/universal-music-tiktok-licensing-fight-music-industry-reactions-1235596904/

[6]https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/20/21525481/twitch-streamers-dmca-takedown-notices-riaa-copyright

[7]https://www.quora.com/Why-is-copyright-so-strict-in-law-yet-loosely-enforced-on-the-internet-It-feels-like-60-of-social-media-content-is-reposted-without-permission-or-a-slight-derivative-of-an-original-work-and-nobody-does-anything

[8]https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/06/tech/x-lawsuit-music-elon-musk/index.html

[9]https://www.danablankenhorn.com/2024/10/truth-behind-a-paywall.html

[10] https://www.copyright.gov/ai/

[11]https://www.herbertsmithfreehills.com/notes/ip/2025-01/navigating-representative-actions-takeaways-from-getty-images-v-stability-ai

[12] https://techpolicy.press/generative-ai-and-copyright-issues-globally-ani-media-v-openai

[13]https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1734007/

[14]https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Viacom_v_YouTube.pdf

[15]https://fairuse.stanford.edu/case/warner-bros-entertainment-inc-et-al-v-x-one-x-productions-et-al/

[16]https://abounaja.com/blog/blockchain-technology-and-intellectual-property#:~:text=Blockchain%20can%20confirm%20ownership%20and,%2Dfungible%20tokens%20(NFTs).