On May 30, 2013, the New York Legal Hackers went back to their old court at Projective Space to take a look at the law and business of monetizing user generated content (UGC).

Recent developments in the image-sharing space have gotten people thinking: how can social platforms start to leverage UGC in new and innovative ways to make money?  From YouTube’s ContentID system to Instagram’s (recanted) attempt at selling user photos directly to brands and marketers, the possibilities are endless.  Our five-person panel covered the numerous risks, moral faux pas, and successes that have arisen in these uncharted waters.

Our Twitter activity highlights some of the main discussion points.

.@amandarykoff tells how sometimes the crowd rises up to protect content creators Example of #Socialmedia backlash as extralegal enforcement

— NY Legal Hackers (@legalhackNYC) May 30, 2013

.@chadmumm discusses how @verge implemented a community-based moderation system to protect the site from user infringement #legalhack

— Julie Geng (@juliegeng) May 30, 2013

Are users who do not generally profit from their content harmed when it is appropriated/monetized? – Iliya M. Fridman #LegalHack

— NY Legal Hackers (@legalhackNYC) May 31, 2013

Not to mention this oddly prescient post that came out the night after!

Interesting breakdown of YouTube’s ecosystem by @jason, on point w what @legalhacknyc talked about this Thurs: buff.ly/17gpdvx

— Warren Allen (@warren_allen) June 2, 2013

And we also added a new hack on our up-and-coming project wiki!

A huge thanks to our panelists for this event. Be sure to check out the video!

Chad Mumm – Creative Director, Vox Media

Iliya Fridman – Partner, Fridman Law Group

Pau Sabria – CEO & Co-Founder, Olapic

Amyt Eckstein – Of Counsel, Moses & Singer

Amanda Rykoff – Sportswriter and Columnist