Social Media Influencer Declared Bankrupt After Post With Abba
Social Media Influencer Katrin Szymborska’s company declared bankrupt in August 2024.
The same year she received two hefty fines, contributing to the demise of her company.
Fined for Using Music on Social Media
She was fined 1m SEK for hidden advertising i.e. not declaring her paid promotions, then in June this year for using Abba music on her posts without permission, which cost her another 700,000 SEK !

Model Emily Ratajkowski posted a picture of herself on social media. A professional photographer had snapped the photo. The photographer complained, as copyright law states that he owned the rights to the image, and Emily ended up paying to settle the case out of court.

This is unwelcome news when it happens so what can you do to prevent it happening to you?
Even a short clip can lead to legal issues.
Social media platforms make money from users content, and when the content includes music, they need have a music license in place. For example YouTube paid the music industry $1.8 billion in license fees for user-generated content in 2022.
TikTok has licenses with three record labels and publishers: Sony, Warner Music, and Universal Music. Social media platforms sign license agreements with certain providers, which like all contracts are reviewed on a periodic basis. TikTok started removing all Universal Music when it fell out over license fees, and then restored it when they were able to finally reach agreement in May 2024.
Beware however that what is widespread practice on social media platforms does not mean that it is acceptable for you to use in your posts.
Copyright is a form of intellectual property right. Copyright is automatically granted to the creator of an original work, be it music, video, art, book, code, image.
So whilst the photo was of Emily Ratajkowski, she did not own the rights to the image and was therefore not at will to use it on her posts. Likewise Katrin Szymborska failed to get the right license to use Abba’s music on her (commercial) post and hence she was sued, engaged expensive lawyers, and ended up losing big.
Also, and as Katrin Szymborska found out, using copyrighted material in commercial posts increases the risk.
‘Commercial use’ is a grey area because social media company music licenses cover their users personal posts only, NOT commercial posts. Paid and ambassador promotions are considered commercial use.
Social Media Influencers often use music to promote products and brands, this would be commercial use and require a different form of music license. In order for an influencer to use (an Abba) song on TikTok, it will need to be available in TikTok’s commercial library, or they will need to get a separate license. This license would be similar to the license a large brand would need to use the music.
When your business promotes a private post from one of your employees (would be influencer) this could be classed as commercial, particularly if it refences your business, and if music or other content is used then it is important to check the licenses before posting.
The point to remember is copyright infringement is everywhere and copyright owners have lawyers with teams dedicated to identifying infringements to keep their clients brands ‘clean.’ They are now even using AI bots to track down infringement and demand royalty payments.
With social media it is safest only to use your own work, free to use / creative commons or where you have express permission to do so. Anything other may invite trouble and risk your post being removed or worse.

I am John Pryor, making IP accessible and valuable for your business.
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JOHN PRYOR: I am a strategy consultant focussed on intellectual property and dedicated to helping people and business to make the best use of all available IP to compete and win in the marketplace.
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