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Protecting Your Business With
Man’s Best Friend In these days of ever increasing business crime, and especially break-ins at factories and warehouses or theft from yards, it is tempting to consider buying a rottweiler, Doberman or German shepherd and leaving it on your premises overnight.
Great idea, it may well keep the burglars away, but do be aware of your responsibilities. Under the Guard Dogs Act 1975 you will need to display a notice on every entrance to your premises AND employ a handler, who must be present at all times if the dog is unleashed. If the dog is tethered, and ‘not at liberty to roam freely’ about the premises you don’t need a handler, but that may somewhat defeat the object. For any advice on this particular aspect of the law contact John King on 01332 676880 or by email.
Your Questions Answered –
Copyright and Intellectual Property Q. I had a website developed 12 months ago by a local web development company. I've decided I want to update it and I've found another web developer I want to work with. The company who developed the original site for me are telling me that I don't own the site (or at least not the code) and therefore they are the only one's who can change it. Is this true and is there anything I might be able to do about it?
A. It is true in as much as they may still own the copyright in the look of the site and the order the code has been set out by them — that is assuming you did not have in place a web development agreement which would have dealt with this issue (and many others).
Copyright can only be transferred in writing – so if you had a contract it should have been covered. Check the contract. If is says nothing then you have a problem. Likewise, if you have no contract there’s a problem.
There has been a Court case which suggested that Courts might sign over copyright in these circumstances but you don’t want to go to Court about this if you can avoid it. You might need to ask the original developers to agree to release the copyright to you (for use by the new company). Of course they may ask to be paid for this and it will be a commercial decision whether you pay them or whether you simply ask your new supplier for a quote to develop a site from scratch. The moral of the story is that a mission critical purchase such as a website should be covered by a good agreement.
Don’t forget that in terms of any design work you commission for your business, whether it’s a website, a logo or a company brochure – you will not own the copyright, unless you have a contract that states that you do.
Woolley & Co draft plain English contracts and agreements covering everything from copyright to intellectual property, licensing and on-line terms and conditions. Contact Andrew Woolley for a fixed fee quote on 01789 267377 or email Andrew Woolley. |
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Covert surveillance of employee’s home The Employment Appeal Tribunal recently upheld a decision that in some circumstances covert video surveillance of an employee’s home was not in breach, under the Human Rights Act, of the employee’s right to respect for his private and family life.
In the case in question the employer suspected that the employee, who received extra payments for out-of-hours call-outs, was not attending some of these call-outs but was nevertheless submitting claims for payment. The employer engaged a private detective to monitor the employee’s home, and was able to establish that he did not leave home at all on several occasions where payments were claimed.
At the Employment Tribunal, the employee tried to claim that this evidence was inadmissible as it breached his human rights. In this instance, as the employer was investigating suspected criminal activity, it was decided they were entitled to have taken the action to protect their interests.
This case is something of an exception however and if you are considering covert surveillance of any employee you should take advice. If your reasons are not strong enough, or your methods too excessive, you could end up having to pay a lot of compensation. Contact John King on 01332 676880 or by email. |
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