Protecting you, online. The Legal Aspects of Your Online Content

Tom  Moore,  IP  &  IT  Specialist  

Copyright and confidentiality •  Many  different  par8es  probably  own  the  copyright  in  both  

your  online  content  and  your  website  as  a  whole        •  Think  about  how  you  can  prac8cally  control  how  and  what  

people  can  use  your  copyright  material  for  

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Trade marks Unregistered   Registered  

 TM   ®  

 

Automa8cally  occurring   Government  endorsed  monopoly  

Difficult  and  expensive  to  enforce   Certainty  and  Security  

Advertising standards authority •  The  ASA  regulates  all  online  marke8ng  ac#vity  –  not  just  

‘adverts’  •  Statements  must  be  honest  and  capable  of  being  proven  

(where  applicable)  •  Endorsed  social  media  posts  must  be  clearly  iden8fied  

as  such  

Twitter

Cookies •  Cookies  are  small  pieces  of  data,  installed  on  a  user’s  

computer  when  they  visit  a  website  •  The  law  on  cookies  hasn’t  changed,  but  the  ICO  interpreta8on  

has  •  Fines  for  non-­‐compliance  

Cookies; how to comply •  Conduct  a  cookie  audit.  Do  you  use  cookies?    If  you  do,  which  

ones?  •  Provide  details  of  all  cookies  (including  dura8on,  purpose,  

source  etc.)  in  a  cookie  policy  made  available  on  your  site  •  Provide  a  mechanism  for  visitors  to  opt  out  of  using  cookies  

Web terms of use: why have them? •  The  terms  create  a  contract  between  you  and  visitors  to  your  site.  

•  Limit  your  liability  •  Enable  you  to  control  links  to  and  from  your  site  •  Increase  your  op8ons  in  the  event  that  your  site  is  used  to  launch  

spam  or  suffers  a  denial  of  service  aVack  •  Allow  you  to  control  user  generated  content  •  Ensure  compliance  with  your  obliga8ons  to  provide    

informa8on  about  your  business  

Online reputation management •  Register  your  trade  mark  •  Ensure  you  have  a  Privacy  and  Cookie  Policy  •  Check  your  Website  Terms  and  Condi8ons  of  use  •  Consider  your  use  of  social  media,  and  put  in  place  a  social  

media  policy  •  Check  whether  your  business  owns  the  content  it  uses,  and  

where  possible  seek  assignment  –  at  the  very  least,  get  a  licence  to  ensure  control  of  the  content.