Nowadays it is difficult to imagine our daily life without the use of social networks not only as a means to keep in touch with people who live far away from us, but social networks have undergone an expansion of their purpose and act as a means to advertise through people known as influencers.

Influencers can be defined as people who have stood out in a social network by building a reputation based on the credibility they have within a group of people with similar tastes, either because they have expertise on the topics they address or because they publish content sharing their lifestyle, which results in the creation of a very successful character in the digital world.

The aforementioned has its origin in what is commonly known as the Digital Era, however, before delving into the legal consequences surrounding influencers, we must define the context of what is understood as the Digital Era and the impulse it has had for the emergence and expansion of influencers.

The Digital Era is often associated with the Digital Revolution, however, the Digital Era refers to a period of time in which the development of new digital technologies and communication boomed, causing a migration of the means of capital creation from the industrial sector to the service sector, which led to an increase in the value of jobs in the generation, processing and storage of information.

This new valorization of labor generated a knowledge economy in which the use of technological tools plays a key role, since it seeks to use the Internet as a platform through which wealth is created, allowing greater distribution and consumption of goods and services, since barriers that were previously seen as impediments to the exploitation of a market are beginning to blur.

Among the factors that drove the use of social networks as a tool for people's employment are: 

1. ICT: Technologies applied to information and communication favor the spread of knowledge and data, which leads to the inclusion of more and more individuals in the digital revolution.

2. Big data: The massive use of data for certain purposes and objectives can be one of the tools that determine certain behavioral patterns not only at a social level, as it can be applied in virtually any field.

The above statement is based on the fact that the development of technologies applied to communication allowed the development of tools such as computers and the Internet, which allowed us to connect with people from other parts of the world using applications such as social networks, which currently take advantage of Big Data systems, since they store user data and establish patterns that allow to detect the tastes of users, at what times they are most active, but above all with what kind of content they interact and if there is any other user within the same social network with which they interact on a frequent basis. 

It is precisely the above data that allows the influencer to know what their audience is and what are the topics that most interest their followers in order to be able to generate original content that is able to capture their attention. It is during this stage that a distinctive seal is created that allows that even without knowing exactly the real name of the influencer, a publication can be associated with it. 

This led to an expansion of the personal image, since now people not only had a physical image, but also a digital image which needs to be protected, by protecting the distinctive seal of each influencer.

Although there is no specific law within the country that regulates these issues, there are several laws applicable to cases involving influencers; these laws include: 

1. Federal Copyright Law

2. Federal Law on the Protection of Personal Data in Possession of Private Parties

3. Federal Law of Telecommunications and Broadcasting.

The above laws allow the protection of the personal brand -which includes the Nickname, the distinctive characteristics of the character, distinctive elements of periodicals-, personal image and personal data.

One of the main ways to do the above is to start protecting the name (or nickname) of the influencer by means of a reservation of right of artistic name; in addition to seeking to protect the original content of the influencers that is distinctive by registering their trademark in classes such as 38 within which are found the services of: telecommunications and continuous broadcasting of audio and video content over the Internet, 35 Advertising and 41 Education, since most influencers are dedicated to create advertising for other brands and also give lectures, workshops, exercise classes and entertainment services. 

Now, taking into account that an influencer uploads content to a social network belonging to a third party, it must be taken into account that the use of these platforms includes the acceptance of terms and conditions in which a "license of intellectual property rights" is included, which is limited and usually has a non-exclusive nature.

Such exclusivity means that the use of the content posted by users on the social network is authorized so that both the social network itself and the rest of the users may use it, but only within the social network itself or in connection with the same or with the services provided by the same. The foregoing implies that such authorization does not create a right for third parties to profit from the content of an influencer or modify the purpose of the publication. It is the responsibility of the influencer to be attentive to the terms of the licenses provided by each of the social networks to confirm which are the authorized uses in each case and if they are still in force (it should be taken into account that, generally, social networks reserve the right to modify their terms of use at any time). Likewise, it should be understood that despite these licenses, the content published by an influencer remains the property of the influencer.

REFERENCES:

● Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor, [L.F.D.A], Reformada, Diario Oficial de la Federación [D.O.F.], 01 de julio de 2020, (México).

● Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares, [L.F.P.D.P.P.P], Nueva Ley, Diario Oficial de la Federación [D.O.F], 05 de julio de 2010, (México)

● Ley Federal de Telecomunicaciones y Radiodifusión, [L.F.T.R], Vigente, Diario Oficial de la Federación [D.O.F.],20 de mayo de 2021, (México)

● Dannika. (2023, February 2). La Propiedad Intelectual que debes proteger si eres influencer - Concreta Legal. Concreta Legal. https://concretalegal.com/blog/propiedad-intelectual-proteger-influencer/ 

● Llamas, J. (2022). Era digital. Economipedia. https://economipedia.com/definiciones/era-digital.html 

● Marujita. (2022). Era digital. Muy Tecnológicos. https://muytecnologicos.com/diccionario-tecnologico/era-digital 

● Socialmood. (2020, April 25). ¿Qué es un influencer? - Diccionario de Marketing 40deFiebre. 40deFiebre. https://www.40defiebre.com/que-es/influencer 

● Olóndriz, P. (2023, April 12). ¿Cómo saber qué Música tiene Copyright en 3 Pasos? Legis Music. https://legismusic.com/es/como-saber-que-musica-tiene-copyright/ 

● Políticas de YouTube sobre uso legítimo y derechos de autor - Cómo funciona YouTube. (n.d.). Políticas De YouTube Sobre Uso Legítimo Y Derechos De Autor - Cómo Funciona YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/intl/ALL_es/howyoutubeworks/policies/copyright/ 

● Minutos. (2017, November 3). ¿De quién es el contenido que subes a las redes sociales? www.20minutos.es - Últimas Noticias. https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/3178021/0/contenido-redes-sociales-propio-fotos-videos/ 

● Rizo, C. R. (n.d.). Derechos de autor en redes sociales: ¿A quién le pertenece el contenido? es.linkedin.com. https://es.linkedin.com/pulse/derechos-de-autor-en-redes-sociales-qui%C3%A9n-le-pertenece-carlos-romero 

● Exploration (Page 1). (2023, April 1). Exploration (Page 1). (2023b, April 1). Exploration. https://exploration.io/es/ 

● Viacom Int’l, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. | Case Brief for Law School | LexisNexis. (n.d.). Community. https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/casebrief/p/casebrief-viacom-int-l-inc-v-youtube-inc