Copyright and the Internet

A client was asking me recently about Intellectual Property Copyright and the Internet and it made me stop and think about the processes involved.

We put up Terms and Conditions on each of our small business web designs which expressly state:

“You are permitted to use this website for your own purposes and to print and download material from this Website provided that you do not modify any content without our consent. Material on this website must not be republished online or offline without our permission.

The copyright and other intellectual property rights in all material (unless otherwise stated) on this Website are owned by us and must not be reproduced without our prior consent.

Subject to the above, no part of this Website may be reproduced without our prior written permission.”

But, if someone decides to republish your images or words elsewhere without permission or even citing the source, it can be an expensive business to establish ownership or indeed to get any action by the offending party – even when it is a photograph of a member of staff taken expressly for that website so there can be no doubt about the authenticity of the ownership.

Polite letters and attempts at remuneration can be ignored until you are left with no choice but to bring out the big guns and consult the professionals.

For some, the only way around this is to actually watermark your images with some form of copyright information and a website address.

What really did surprise me was the discovery that your rights to your own property can be affected if you don’t involve a contract when you employ a web designer to use your images as part of the website that s/he is building for you.

In many areas, the world wide web is akin to the Wild West of America.