Woolley & Co E-Zine March 2007

Tips and ideas for keeping your business on the right side of the law

Welcome to the March Woolley & Co ezine.

This month we cover a couple of web related topics which we believe are pertinent to just about all of our readers. There’s advice from Gary Cousins in the wake of the recent clampdown by stock photography companies on the use of their images on websites. There’s also advice on copyright and liability in relation to website content. If you need advice on these or other legal issue contact Woolley & Co on 01789 267377 or email us here

We welcome your feedback - if there is any particular legal issue you'd like to see covered send the details through to marketing@business-lawfirm.co.uk.

Andrew Woolley
Andrew Woolley, Senior Partner, Woolley & Co


	PICTURE THIS – WEBSITE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
	Are you sure that you have a right to display all the images that appear on your website? You might be infringing someone’s copyright and be liable even if your web designer put them on there for you. Many photographers are using ‘stock photography’ companies, or ‘image banks’, to negotiate license fees on their behalf or sometimes sell the rights in the photographs to them. These companies then make digital versions of the photographs available through their websites to anyone who pays the license fee for them. The three largest such companies are Getty Images, Corbis and Jupiter Media. We have noticed that, in the last six months or so, Getty Images and Corbis have been having a clampdown on the unlicensed use of their images in the UK. Thanks to software, such as PicScout, image banks can now track unlicensed use of their images throughout the internet, even if the image has been manipulated, e.g. by cropping it, re-sizing it, rotating it or even changing its colours. The image banks have recently been sending out thousands of claims and it’s the website owners who are primarily liable. These claims are proving to be very lucrative for the image banks. Both Getty Images and Corbis have been claiming damages and sometimes a ‘fine’ for such copyright infringement of around Ł2,000 for each image used on a website. They have been encouraging website owners to become customers of theirs by purchasing a license in order to avoid court proceedings. If you’ve got 5 unlicensed images on your website, which is not uncommon, you could soon end up with a 5-figure claim against you! So what can you do? If you have a website, write to your web designer asking him or her to check and confirm in writing that they have a valid license for all the images on your site. Also, check the terms and conditions you have with your web designer to ensure that there is a clause whereby they will indemnify you if any claim is made against you. If you are a web designer, check all the sites you have developed or host to ensure that you have a valid, and up-to-date, license for all of them. If not, either obtain a license immediately or remove them. If you receive a claim, take legal advice as soon as possible. It may save you thousands of pounds in court fees and damages. Gary Cousins is an experienced dispute resolution lawyer with Woolley & Co. Contact Gary on 0121 778 3212.


	LAW ON SOFTWARE PIRACY IS TO TIGHTEN UP
	The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has welcomed the announcement that trading standards officers will be given new powers to check businesses' compliance with software licensing laws from 6 April. The new powers will be granted under an amendment to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The move was a key recommendation in the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property. It'll mean more surprise raids at markets and car boot sales, and more prosecutions of those who flaunt the regulations.


	DOWNLOADING A WHOLE LOT OF TROUBLE?
	Your website doesn’t sell anything so you think you don’t have many legal issues to worry about? Maybe, but do remember two critical issues, copyright and liability. Copyright is reasonably simple here. If you created your content that you are allowing to be downloaded then you automatically own the copyright. But watch out for when you get someone else (maybe a freelancer) to prepare it for you as they own the copyright. More here Liability is the issue that would worry me! What are you saying on your site and any material available to download? If you are giving advice which people might reasonably rely on then worry unless you have a clear disclaimer explaining that you have done your best in preparing the download, it is a general comment and not to be relied upon by any one individual in a specific situation without taking proper advice first. That disclaimer will protect you a lot but it can’t protect you against some things such as liability for personal injury or death which in UK law cannot be excluded by using clever wording. So, make sure you are insured and if you think you already are, make sure it covers downloads from your website. Woolley & Co will provide a FREE download disclaimer to the first 5 people to email. But please note, it will be a general document only and is not to be relied upon in any specific situation without first taking proper advice!

To find out more about these and other legal issues visit the Woolley & Co website at www.business-lawfirm.co.uk. The site also contains articles and back copies of our E-zine – which might be a useful place to start if you have a legal problem you need help with.

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