The phenomenon of Internet memes in the legal space
https://doi.org/10.52468/2542-1514.2025.9(4).26-35
Abstract
The subject of this study is the transformation of modern legal and cultural exchange, which occurs under the influence of trends in digitalization and mediatization of the legal sphere. The purpose of the article is to determine the legal nature and meaning of memes in online legal communications.
The research was based on an interdisciplinary scientific approach of memetics, the use of which in jurisprudence is aimed at determining the influence of cultural, social and historical phenomena and factors on the development of law, the formation and change of legal norms and practices. This approach made it possible to consider memes as sociocultural phenomena and trace their role in cultural evolution in general and in the field of legal and cultural transformations in particular. The methodology is also presented by formal legal, comparative legal methods and the method of scientific analysis, with the help of which doctrinal, normative-legal sources and materials of judicial practice on the categorization of Internet memes in the legal field of intellectual property were studied. The use of constructivist methodology allowed us to evaluate memes as building blocks of legal communication. Methods of legal modeling and forecasting helped to determine the vectors of meme influence on legal and cultural evolution, as well as to identify risks of the formation of “deceptive” meanings in Internet memes.
Main results. The article highlights the influence of media discourse as the core of modern language processes on legal communication, innovations in the language of law in the context of digitalization. The legal nature of Internet memes is determined through the prism of intellectual property law, which identifies the need to address two issues: respect for the rights of authors of original works and the rights of authors of derivative works – Internet memes – in the context of their viral spread with subsequent multiple variations. Conclusions are formulated about the ability of Internet memes to generate new meanings in jurisprudence; the role of judicial Internet memes in programming and coding of legal behavior, reflecting and reproducing legal culture and digiculture; the reverse influence of the professional legal community on the specific parameters of an Internet meme during its subsequent reproduction and mutations; anti-cultural risks of reproducing of destructive (illegal) patterns of behavior.
Sections 1, 2, 4, 5 were prepared by M.V. Zaloilo, section 3 – by N.V. Vlasova.
Keywords
Digitalization,
mediatization,
legal discourse,
legal culture,
legal information,
Internet meme,
memetics,
copyright,
derivative work,
the doctrine of fair use
Supporting agencies: The study is funded by the grant of the Russian Science Foundation No. 23-28-01773, https://rscf.ru/project/23-28-01773/.
About the Authors
M. V. Zaloilo
Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation
Россия
Россия
Maksim V. Zaloilo – PhD in Law, Leading Researcher, Department of Theory of Law and Interdisciplinary Research of Legislation
34, B. Cheremushkinskaya ul., Moscow, 117218
ResearcherID: S-4168-2018
AuthorID: 595876
N. V. Vlasova
Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation
Россия
Россия
Nataliya V. Vlasova – PhD in Law, Leading Researcher, Department of Private Law
34, B. Cheremushkinskaya ul., Moscow, 117218
ResearcherID: W-8032-2019
AuthorID: 289357
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Review
For citations:
Zaloilo M.V., Vlasova N.V. The phenomenon of Internet memes in the legal space. Law Enforcement Review. 2025;9(4):26-35. https://doi.org/10.52468/2542-1514.2025.9(4).26-35
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