The changing reality of augmented reality, top five data security issues for healthcare companies, and more in this issue of Digital Media Link

In our previous edition of Digital Media Link, we took a deep dive into the legal issues touching augmented and virtual reality technologies. We had so much fun with that topic that we decided to organize two roundtables to continue the conversation.

Our roundtables took place in San Francisco and Los Angeles in October and featured lively discussions on legal and compliance issues with in-house counsel from Oculus, NVIDIA, and Meta in San Francisco, and on economic, production, and distribution issues with business executives from Secret Location, Here Be Dragons, and JauntVR in Los Angeles. Core themes running through both discussions included the challenges and opportunities in the development of a new ecosystem of augmented, mixed, and virtual reality technologies, including consumer adoption, user experience, and privacy concerns. We learned a lot—we hope everyone who joined us did too—and please look out for our roundtable schedule for next year.

In this edition, we decided to pull back from a deep look at one technology; instead we're showing how digital media impacts so much of our broad economy – including healthcare, employment issues, and local city ordinances.

We hope you find these articles helpful and informative, and that you will continue to "link" up with us in this important area.

Candy Lab and the Changing Reality of Augmented Reality

Augmented reality game developers scored major points when a federal judge recently issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Milwaukee from enforcing an ordinance limiting the use of augmented reality and location-based applications. The ruling is part of a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin by mobile game developer Candy Lab Inc. Candy Lab challenged Milwaukee's regulation that required special use permits for "location-based augmented reality games" in county parks, arguing that such a law directly infringed on the company's constitutional rights.

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Top Five Privacy and Data Security Issues Facing Digital Healthcare Companies

No two health care companies are alike, but many face similar challenges when managing their data risk. Many of these challenges arise because of the competing motivations with which every modern organization now struggles—between innovation and growth on the one hand and compliance and legal risk on the other.

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Independent Contractor Risks in the Digital Media Industry: What Digital Media Companies Can Do to Avoid Costly Mistakes

It is no secret that the tech world relies upon freelancers. Coders, bloggers, website designers, and photographers, among others in the industry, are often engaged as independent contractors instead of traditional employees. The benefits to companies are obvious. They avoid payroll taxes, overtime wages, and employee benefits costs, all while getting the labor they need at a moment's notice. That's the good news for digital media companies. The bad news is that the IRS and other government agencies are cracking down on independent contractor misclassifications.

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News:

Marketing Dive quotes Po Yi in article about the legal AR/VR pitfalls marketers should avoid

Inside Counsel quotes Kimberly Culp on the legal challenges facing augmented reality and mixed reality

Publications:

Augmented Reality and Fair Use: Narrowing the Standard, Bloomberg BNA's Electronic Commerce & Law Report

The Collision of VR, Big Data and the Law, Daily Journal

Are You Prepared for the Legal Issues of Augmented Reality?, Venable

Augmented Reality Legal Issues are Very Real, Venable

Events:

The Future of Imagination: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and How We Shape Our World, at The City Club of Cleveland

Ghost in the Machinima: Law and Culture in Augmented and Virtual Worlds, at The Spangenberg Center for Law, Technology & the Arts at Case Western Reserve University