photo: Jan Baborák
Have you been asked to stop using a branded or trademarked hashtag? Can you be liable when using a branded (and perhaps trademarked) hashtag on social media? Think about it; isn't this against everything social media stands for?
It All Started With a Hashtag Cease Command
A recent post in our Social Media Managers Facebook group read:
I was just told to delete a tweet we sent using (#)WorldCup because “that hashtag is considered copyrighted material and only FIFA is allowed to use it.”
Say what? So many questions!
- Have you ever been asked not to use a branded hashtag?
- Could there be legal action against you for using a certain hashtag?
- Who wouldn't want you to talk about their product/service online?
That seems like an upside down world!
The biggest question seemed to be this one: ‘Why would someone want to trademark a hashtag and not let anyone else use it?'
Isn't the purpose of social media to be… social? It's Social Media; Don't You Want Your Hashtag To Be Shared?
First things first. #Hashtags are used in social media posts all day long.
Hashtags are used to discover new content on Twitter, to connect with interesting people on Instagram and to find industry-related posts on Facebook. These are just a few ways hashtags are used!
The purpose of hashtags is to find and be found by like-minded individuals and businesses, to connect with a newly found audience and to start a conversation. In other words; hashtags help you to be social on social media!
Creating a unique, branded hashtag for your business, event or product is a smart way to reach more people.
Having your audience share not only your content but also your unique, branded hashtag allows you to reach a wider audience. Your ‘circle of friends' gets bigger each time your hashtag is shared by others to their audience as their audience becomes… your audience.
So why in the case mentioned above, would FIFA not want you to use the (#)WorldCup hashtag?
Misguided In Protecting A Name
The same reason you would have for trademarking your business name, color, tagline, product, or scent (yes, you can trademark a scent) is the reason FIFA doesn't want anyone using the WorldCup hashtag.
They are, so it seems, protecting the integrity of the name. Coupled with that, the WorldCup is a huge moneymaker for FIFA; think sponsors and endorsements.
FIFA wants to be in complete control of their (trademarked) name, and that includes their hashtag.
Let's start by checking out that word ‘WorldCup'.
In this article, it is suggested that the word ‘World Cup' itself is trademarked. If that's true, you could get creative talking about the WorldCup without mentioning that specific word! If using the (#)WorldCup hashtag without context and permission might get you into hot water, as the Social Media Managers Facebook group member found out, using a more generic hashtag to describe the same thing would work i.e. #thebiggame #soccertournament.
While it may generate more views to use the hashtag #FIFAWorldCup in your tweets and Facebook posts, you would essentially be using FIFA's protected mark without permission.
But really, shouldn't FIFA want every single Twitter follower to use #WorldCup to spread the word?
Can You Trademark a Hashtag?
According to some sources we found, the answer is yes. A hashtag can be trademarked. As stated before, a trademarked hashtag is often an extension of a business trademark.
You can trademark a hashtag so long as you are providing a product or service to the general public associated with that hashtag. You can use a hashtag as a brand name or slogan for your product or service, in much the same way that any other name or phrase or combination of words can be used to brand a product or service.