1.1 What are the characteristics of user-generated content?

User-generated content (UGC) is broadly defined as “material uploaded to the Internet by website users.” As such, it encompasses both original content and links to other content posted by users. In general, UGC is when the user is the content’s author. Such content can be created offline and downloaded on your platform (e.g. photos) or created using tools available on your platform (e.g. designing an item for a virtual world or leaving a comment on a forum). Content that users share but have not created — for example, newspaper articles, YouTube videos and so on — can also be considered UGC.

Media or platforms that publish UGC are known as interactive or participatory. Such platforms have varying implications with regard to the collection of personal information, intellectual property and user and content moderation.

1.2 What risks to personal information are associated with UGC?

With young audiences, particular attention needs to be paid to the inadvertent collection of personal information, i.e. when children publicly share information allowing them to be personally identified. A child may, for example, divulge his or her physical address in a public forum. In this sense, to ensure the safety of young users, you should consider incorporating content moderation mechanisms.

For further details on the collection of personal information, click here.

1.3 Should a participatory youth platform be moderated?

Allowing users to post content on a given platform implies a certain loss of control: there’s nothing to stop reprehensible conduct like sharing offensive content or infringing upon intellectual property rights. Making interactive youth media “safe” means implementing mechanisms to moderate content and users.

1.4 What are the implications for intellectual property on participatory media?

To avoid intellectual property breaches, including copyright breaches, as well as secure adequate rights to use content generated by users, operators of participatory platforms must monitor all content posted. The information pertaining to intellectual property is set out in the platform’s terms of use, which is a legal document.

User-generated content as it pertains to personal information is addressed specifically in the section on the United States. For other countries, refer to the general information on the collection of personal information. User and content moderation on participatory platforms is addressed in depth in Backgrounder 14. The section below mainly addresses intellectual property.

CANADA

Copyright Act

On January 2, 2015, Canada adopted a new “notice and notice” regime that gives copyright owners a certain amount of control over how their works published online, including UGC, are used. Under the regime, when a copyright owner thinks that a user might be infringing their copyright, they can send a notice of alleged infringement to the platform operator. The platform operator must then forward the notice to the user who has allegedly infringed the copyright. An operator who refuses to send the notice may be held responsible for allowing copyright to be breached.

Additional information:

Government of Canada, Office of Consumer Affairs: Notice and Notice Regime

**Québec: An Act to Establish a Legal Framework for Information Technology

Québec is the only province offering platform operators legal protection with regard to user-generated content. Operators are not liable for the activities of those who use their services unless they are aware that the UGC is serving illicit purposes. At that point, the operator must promptly remove the content. However, operators are not responsible for overseeing content stored or shared through their service nor for investigating whether or not the content is used for illicit purposes.

Additional information:

Copyright Act

Québec – An Act to Establish a Legal Framework for Information Technology

UNITED STATES

Communications Decency Act (CDA) and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA)

The United States has a legal apparatus that protects participatory media operators fairly well.

Where platform content is created entirely by third parties, the operator may qualify for immunity under the Communications Decency Act. This shields the operator from all liability for disseminating UGC, including cases of alleged defamation, misrepresentation, negligent, fraudulent or misleading statements, false advertising and other crimes. However, the immunity does not cover intellectual property infringement.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act protects operators from allegations of intellectual property violation: under this law, the operator cannot be held responsible for distributing and/or storing copyright-infringing UGC. To qualify, operators must publish a copyright policy, notice and takedown procedures, and notification to the effect that users who repeatedly violate copyright will have their accounts closed.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

Federal law that applies to products that collect personal information from U.S. children under 13 years of age. COPPA considers photos, videos and audio files containing a child’s image or voice to be personal information. If your platform enables content of this kind to be shared, you must obtain verifiable parental consent before allowing children to take part in the activity. You must also be aware of collecting personal information inadvertently.

N.B. COPPA applies only to data collected directly from children. For example, if you were to invite an adult (parent, teacher, etc.) to share a photo of a child, COPPA would not apply.

Additional information:

Federal Trade Commission: Complying with COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions

EUROPEAN UNION AND FRANCE

Electronic Commerce Directive

According to this directive, operators are not liable for the illegal activity or information placed on their systems by a user when they are in no way involved in the activity or information. Upon obtaining actual knowledge or awareness of its illegality, the operator must act promptly to remove the content or block access to it.

Additional information:

European Commission, Electronic Commerce Directive

AUSTRALIA

Australian Copyright Act

Australian law offers sparse protection to online operators. This means that when user-generated content infringes copyright on your platform, you can be held partially responsible for allowing the breach. You therefore need to implement measures to monitor UGC on your site (e.g. a system that approves UGC before it is posted online) and remove content that fails to respect copyrights.

Additional information:

Australian Copyright Council

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

All stores require developers to classify their apps based on their overall content, including UGC and advertisements. Each store has a rating system based on the absence or presence of various criteria (e.g. violence, language level, etc.). Stores also require developers to respect intellectual property rights.

Apple App Store

Apps that allow UGC must develop methods to filter content, a whistle-blowing mechanism for offensive content and a way of blocking abusive users. Apps that allow content to be downloaded from third-party sources (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) must have obtained explicit permission from said sources.

Additional information

Since it is an area well regulated by law, user-generated content is not covered by any self-regulatory programs.