This Article looks at what legal risks someone hosting a Weblog or RSS feed may have to consider.

You may be hosting your own web log, giving out an RSS feed or taking RSS feeds from other people’s websites.

 

So, what legal issues should you consider?

 

The creator of an article / website owns the copyright. Who is that? If it is something you have personally created then its you. If you’ve got someone to create the thing for you it’s not so clear (read more on copyright here). Are you carrying and publishing work from others where they don’t own the copyright? You may well be, for example, they might have taken it from the true copyright owner, they may not own the copyright even if they assume they do. In our view the best way of dealing with that is by having a “click to agree” agreement on the site for people posting to it and a similar one for people viewing it. In that agreement you’d make it clear that the poster guaranteed you that they owned the copyright and the reader was told clearly that you didn’t guarantee copyright yourself.

 

Libel, briefly, is something on the Web which is untrue and damages the person it is addressed to. It is often more dangerous for the person hosting than the person making the comment! The commentator often can’t be identified or found but the host often can. Both could be liable for significant damages and costs if the wrong thing is said about the wrong company or person. Bear in mind that if someone pursues you for libel you have to be able to prove what was said is true and they don’t have to prove it is untrue. So, the way of dealing with this is twofold:

1. Again, have well written terms of access to your site and agreements with anybody posting to indemnify you against any claims (but the indemnity is only worth something if you can get hold of them and then if they have money or insurance!)
2. The Courts have helped a bit here. If a newspaper publishes a libel, they have no defence. Is there any difference between a website publisher and a newspaper publisher? Yes, the Courts say (and surely they are right). A Web publisher will not have Blogs or RSS feeds going through their mind before publishing unlike the situation with a newspaper. If you have a clear procedure (one you actually follow) for removing any comments people find offensive especially libellous then you are unlikely to be found liable. This is often called a “Take Down Procedure” and may well be sensibly shown clearly on your site as a link. Maybe this would also help you on copyright complaints too?

As we often say: check your insurance covers you for this “new” type of business you are undertaking. Even now, some people dealing with e-commerce have insurance policies which exclude cover for … e-commerce. Do check and if in doubt, tell your insurers what you are doing. Get advice from a good commercial broker.

 

If you run a commercial enterprise and plan to use blogs or RSS feeds to promote your business or build a network of contacts and communications channels it is wise to take advice on what agreements you should have in place. Woolley & Co can often agree a fixed fee arrangement for legal sections of websites and other legal contracts contact us on 01789 267377 or email us.