|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |  |
|
Who Owns the Content of Your Business Website?
| Guest post by: Alison Hayman |
Article Overview: In this article, Alison Hayman discusses the pitfalls associated with ownership of copyright in websites and provides valuable tips on minimizing exposure from copyright infringement claims.
 |
Free Download - By Alison Hayman |
Who Owns the Content of Your Business Website?
When a business has an employee or consultant create its business website, it is likely assumed that the business owns the copyright in the resulting site. But is that the really the case?
Copyright in a website is usually multi-layered. A website is typically a compilation of artistic works (graphic designs), literary works (text) and photographs. It is important that the business own or have a licence to the copyright in each of these components to avoid having copyright infringement claims made against it and to permit reproduction of those elements without concern. Despite what you as a business entity may think, you may not have those rights!
Your position will be most favourable if an employee created your business website. In that case, by operation of law, your business will be the first owner of the copyright in the elements of the site the employee created. In contrast, if you hired an independent consultant to create your website, the consultant will be the first owner of copyright, and you will need to obtain an assignment of the copyright in any elements he or she created.
Once you have acquired the copyright in the elements created by the web designer (employee or consultant), either by operation of law or by assignment, the next task is to determine whether there are elements on the website which are owned by third parties. There is a real risk that the consultant or employee who designed your website may have incorporated copyrighted images, text or photographs and may not have obtained permission or paid the applicable licence fees to use such work. In particular, it is not uncommon for website designers to source images for their clients’ websites from stock image companies without seeking permission or paying the applicable royalty fees.
Unlicensed use of any work in which copyright subsists is actionable, but the risk of detection is particularly great if the copyright is owned or licensed by a stock image company. These companies use sophisticated software to scan the Internet for the images they control. If they find their images on your website, you may receive a letter requesting payment of licence fees for the period during which the image was displayed on your website. These fees can be significant, especially if multiple images were used over a long period of time. If you fail to pay, you could face a copyright infringement law suit.
Plaintiffs in copyright infringement suits can seek the damages they actually suffered, plus the profits made by the infringement. Alternatively, they can claim a fixed amount per infringement, ranging from a minimum of $500 to a maximum of $20,000. The minimum amount can be reduced to $200 per infringement if the defendant can satisfy the court that s/he was not aware and had no reasonable grounds to believe that s/he was infringing copyright. The minimum amount can be further reduced to an amount the court considers just if the infringement involves more than one work in a single medium and awarding the minimum amounts would result in an award grossly disproportionate to the infringement.
To minimize your exposure to these types of copyright infringement claims, it is advisable to take the following steps:
1. Ask your web designer, whether an employee or a consultant, where the images on your website came from.
2. If the images are not photographs or graphic designs taken or created by the web designer, ask him or her whether permission and/or payment of a licence fee is required to use the images. If this can’t be confirmed, don’t use the image.
3. Document your conversations with your web designer about the source of the images.
4. Even if you are satisfied that you will be lawfully using images on your website, as an extra precaution, it is advisable to have a liability and indemnification clause in the agreement governing an independent web designer’s services. This type of clause can limit your legal and financial liability in the event that you or your business are sued for copyright infringement as a result of content placed on your business website by the independent web designer.
It is only prudent to be diligent when developing your business website. As you strive to create an attractive and functional website, you want to avoid creating one that leaves you open to copyright infringement claims.
Alison Hayman is an associate in the Intellectual Property Group in Toronto. Contact her directly at 416-307-4155 or ahayman@langmichener.ca.
Content is King
Key Factors In SEO
••••••>Include only Pertinent, Relevant well Written Content If You Want to Achieve #1 on Google and High Search Engine Rankings
How to Deal With Content Theft Using the Least Amount of Effort
The Foundation of Website Design
Does your website content grab visitors' attention?
Are You Putting The "Content-Cart" Before The "Traffic-Driving Horse"?
Tips for Work At Home Moms to build a Website with Quality Content
Don't Wave Any Spam Flags If You Want Traffic From Google
Identifying Your Websites Target Audience
7 Easy Steps to Instant Traffic For Your Website!
Google’s Message to Designers
How Fresh Content May Catapult Your Website Ranking At The Top!
••••••>Website Content Readability Considerations for Better SEO
••••••>Get Me On Top Free SEO Tip of the Day: Refrain from Duplication of Content When Performing SEO Techniques
How to Use Web Site Content to Make Money Online
How to Avoid Duplicate Content and Generate Inbound Links
What all we need other than website design?
What You Need to Start an eZine Publication
Discover the Benefits of Applying User Generated Content to Your Online Income Business
|
About the Author: Alison Hayman RSS for Alison's articles - Visit Alison's website Click here to visit Alison's website  |
Related Forum Posts
Internet Users Hbk http://www.internetscamsanonymous.com
- Current site for sale of our handbook as a Clickbank product
Welcome any and all feedback:
Sale page Content
Handbook Content
Pricing
Too Big
Considering braking it to 2 volumes: Avoiding Scams Online and Doing Business Online and maybe ad 3rd volume related internet technology
Kind of like selling preventive medicine!!
Thank you in advance for your interest and comments
Re: what position to request?
- Hi Michael,
Great suggestion from David, or you could try something around a design consultancy,
How about Website Design Consultant, Design and Development Manager, Website Support and Development Manager or maybe Internet Business Development Consultant.
Ultimately whatever you are comfortable with and good luck for the future,
Mal.
Young Entrepreneur in International trading
- I’m 23. Owns an ice-cream company. Started the company when I was 20. Increased sales compared to previous owners with 50%. Are now looking for new opportunities to expand my business.
Re: Reduce Bounce Rate
- Website bounce rate matters most today. You can decrease by providing
1. Good Web Layout And Design
2. Relevant and unique content
3. Content clear and proper navigation
4. Improve website loading speed
5. Add relevant images
6. Analysis of keywords
7. Minimize pages
8. optimize your target keywords
9. Good quality of links
10. Take People Where They Want to Go
Re: Meta Tags
- [quote="ChrisH":tzc1bohg]I'm just curious what you all think -- -
How important do you think meta tags are? If the content is keyword optimized and they are being used correctly (as per Google's current instructions) how important are meta tags??
Chris[/quote:tzc1bohg]
Metatags were very important 10 years ago. Now, search engines are smarter...
There are 2 very important things on your page:
1/ Page title: make sure to place some keywords in your title (avoid title like "welcome to my website, great information resource". You are wasting prime keyword real estate.
2/ Content. Content. Content. Content. Content. Oh, did I mention content?? Your content as to mention your main keywords several times.
3/ <h> and <b> tags are very important too. They tell search engines you emphasize these keywords.
Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.
Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.
by: Jeff Ogden, B2B Lead Generation Strategies
Best Automated Forex Trading Strategy
Build Your List with Joint Venture Giveaway Events
May 2012 Top 100 Social Media Experts to Follow on Twitter
What to measure to be phenomenally successful in business
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
How Promotional Caps became a Fashion Trend
Google Panda and Your Search Engine Rankings
THE “SECRET RECIPES” OF LEADERSHIP
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.