As Yahoo and Tumblr sort out the logistics of their impending partnership, the more than 100 million users who currently host blogs on the social media platform are anxiously awaiting potential changes to the site's copyright rules.
--- # [](https://www.innovation-asset.com/) - [Decipher®](https://www.innovation-asset.com/products-decipher) - [Services](https://www.innovation-asset.com/products/professional-services-0) - [Resources](https://www.innovation-asset.com/resources) - [Blog](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog) - [About Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/about) - [Contact Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/contact) # Innovation Asset Blog # Copyright management questions follow Yahoo's Tumblr acquisition by [Peter Ackerman](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/author/peter-ackerman) Yahoo turned heads across the tech community this week with the announcement of an ambitious $1.1 billion acquisition of popular social media platform Tumblr. As the two sides sort out the logistics of their impending partnership, the more than 100 million users who currently host blogs on Tumblr are anxiously awaiting potential changes to the site's copyright rules. Yahoo's Tumblr deal shares [several key parallels](http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/but-wait-didnt-yahoo-try-a-deal-like-this-before/) with its 1999 acquisition of web hosting specialist GeoCities, according to The New York Times. If the past is indeed prologue in this instance, a number of Tumblr users are anticipating significant shifts in content ownership and advertising policies designed to limit liability and increase revenue for Yahoo. As a result, WordPress reportedly saw Tumblr users migrating their blogs over to the competitor's platform at a rate of more than 70,000 per hour once news of the Yahoo deal broke. According to Managing IP, Tumblr has been traditionally regarded as a relatively harmless copyright haven with users encouraged to post and share multimedia content from external sources. However, as the website has grown in popularity, Tumblr executives have started facing more pointed [royalty management](https://www.innovation-asset.com/solutions/modules/decipher_commercialization/) inquiries in addition to several lawsuits regarding their lax enforcement policies. Digital Millennium Copyright Act safe harbor clauses protect sites like Tumblr which host primarily user-generated content, asking only that administrators respond to infringement inquiries and takedown requests in a timely manner. But as Yahoo attempts to legitimize and commercialize its latest social media asset, [policy updates are likely unavoidable](http://www.managingip.com/Blog/3209675/Yahoo-acquisition-of-Tumblr-creates-copyright-concerns.html) as competitors start to take a keener interest in the integrity of the site's content strategy.  ### [Peter Ackerman](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/author/peter-ackerman) Founder & CEO, Innovation Asset Group, Inc. [May 23, 2013](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/copyright-management-questions-follow-yahoos-tumblr-acquisition) ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Introducing Decipher® ### Categories - [Intellectual Property Management (459)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/intellectual-property-management) - [Commercialization and Licensing (210)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/commercialization-and-licensing) - [Invention Disclosure (201)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/invention-disclosure) - [Innovation Strategy (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/innovation-strategy) - [Ideas for Good (6)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/ideas-for-good) - [Innovation Team (3)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/innovation-team) ### News Archives - [January 2013 (26)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2013/01) - [September 2012 (25)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/09) - [October 2012 (22)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/10) - [November 2012 (22)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/11) - [November 2010 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2010/11) - [February 2011 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2011/02) - [July 2012 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/07) - [December 2012 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/12) - [January 2012 (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/01) - [March 2012 (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/03) ##### Portland, Oregon USA ##### © Innovation Asset Group, Inc. ##### [Privacy Policy](https://www.innovation-asset.com/privacy-policy/) | [Terms & Conditions](https://www.innovation-asset.com/terms-and-conditions/) | [Contact Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/contact/) -