Has your Twitter account been sending unapproved tweets? On Sunday 6 April, that’s exactly what happened to us at Sladen Legal. But fear not - such spam is usually harmless and the issue is easily rectifiable.

There are several reasons why your Twitter account may send unauthorised, unexpected tweets. Usually the culprit is a third party application which you have inadvertently authorised to access your account. For functionality, it’s important for Twitter to interact with other platforms. In doing so, each program will have access to your account. Many of these are legitimate, but sometimes a third party will surreptitiously request this authorisation – and you will grant it. But don’t worry, it happens to the best of us and is easy to manage.

Ever copy a photograph from the internet without permission?

An American photographer has pursued a travel agent operating in Melbourne for the unauthorised use of a picture of Hawaii. Mr Tylor takes photographs and sells or licenses them through photo stock libraries (e.g. Getty Images). Ms Sevin published one of Mr Tylor’s photographs on her website to advertise flights to Hawaii. She is now liable to pay Mr Tylor $24,000 for copyright infringement and costs.

‘Entrepreneur’ is no longer a dirty word. Once considered a term self-claimed by unemployed middle aged men, entrepreneurism has hit the limelight. With increased accessibility to cost effective business models, passionate individuals can now pursue their start-up ventures. It seems there are bigger things to come, with Richard Branson dubbing 2014 as the Year of the Entrepreneur.

But one thing hasn’t (and won’t) change. Start-ups are cash-strapped and often look to cut corners. Some legal corners, however, can be costly or devastating to the development of a start-up. Here are our top 5 lessons you don’t want to learn the hard way.

We increasingly come across individuals or businesses that are self-filing trade marks and managing their own portfolios. Their reasoning – why pay a lawyer to do it, when I can do it cheaper? Well, here are a few reasons that might make you reconsider self-filing a trade mark

Many businesses are aware of the benefits of trade mark registration in Australia, but for those that manufacture or sell goods overseas, consideration must also be given to whether their trade marks are protected in the international market. 

Consider the branding that your business or organisation uses and the photographs and images it employs on packaging and products, on its website and in brochures and advertising materials.

Do you own these images or have a licence to use them? A recent Federal Court case highlights how easily the copyright subsisting in such photographs can be overlooked.