E-Business

The internet brings huge benefits and marketing opportunities to businesses which far outweigh any legal risks. Nevertheless, there are a few pitfalls to be aware of. As it is much cheaper and simpler to prevent problems than to cure them, ensure you are complying with the law from the outset and managing the risks when you set up an online presence.

Points to be alert to:

• Checking out trade mark rights in any domain names you are going to be using for your site.

• Common misconceptions about copyright when writing content. Beware there is software on the web that enables site owners to detect if you have copied their content.

• Information you may need to put on your site, such as terms of site use, disclaimers, privacy policies, copyright notice, links policy, terms of business. Getting clearances from anyone whose work you may be using on your website, such as musicians, photographers, illustrators.
• Steps you can take to protect your designs.
• Using hypertext links and link agreements.
• The importance of having more extensive terms of business if you are going to be contracting online - every selling situation varies, so it is advisable to talk through your selling proposals with lawyers, and ensure their advice is fed through to the people developing your site.
• Distance selling, marketing and advertising regulations you should be aware of.
• As websites are accessible worldwide, ensure that English law and court jurisdiction prevails. In international law it is recognised that contract clauses may specify which laws apply to a contract, and which country’s courts have jurisdiction over disputes.

Copying from other websites

If you have a website, take care what you copy from other sites. Often newcomers to the internet freely copy and paste from other websites, whether there is a copyright notice on the site or not, but particularly if there is no copyright notice because they assume they can use any work they like on the internet, or that the lack of a copyright notice means that the work is in the public domain.

How to get permission to use content of other sites

If you want to take material from a site, one tip is to look at the site’s terms of use. Read the terms to see what permissions are given, and whether you are allowed to do what you propose with the material from that site. If that does not answer your query, then contact the site owner to find out whether you may use the content in question. You may well find that others are quite agreeable to allowing you to use their content, but it is important to ask. In this way you will help yourself avoid costly legal exposure.

But be careful

However, do remember to ask where they got the content from, to make sure they have the right to give you permission to use the material. For example, if a copywriter produced the entire text for them, then the copywriter will own the copyright, and is the appropriate person to approach. Alternatively, the copywriter may be joint owner of the copyright, in which case both the site owner and the copywriter would need to give you consent to use the material. So, further probing is necessary.