Dive Brief:

• In a groundbreaking social media case, a judge ruled that a woman who created the Facebook page for the BET show "The Game" doesn't actually own it.
• The show was canceled by The CW in 2009 and the Facebook page—created by Stacey Mattocks that racked up 6.2 million likes— is credited with resurrecting the show in 2011.
• BET—the network that brought the show back— allowed Mattocks to be a 'social media freelancer,' and then downgraded her role to 'page moderator.' Eventually, BET asked Facebook to shut down the page so the network could create an official page—which is when Mattocks decided to sue.

Dive Insight:

The judge sided with BET, stating that liking a Facebook page "simply means that the user is expressing his or her enjoyment or approval of the content." He also dismissed claims by Mattock that BET shut down the page maliciously, but rather the move was based to protect "brand owners’ rights." The ruling may create a domino effect from corporations who don't currently have control over existing Facebook pages of its content.