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Many charities are using the web to transform the way they interact with their supporters, beneficiaries and the general public. However, there are many legal issues to consider when creating your organisation’s website or using social media tools. Below are listed 5 of these key legal issues that you should be considering when designing your organisation’s web presence:-
Right clearances
Before uploading any content on to your website, the necessary clearances must be obtained from the intellectual property right owners. Web designers, artists, photographers and any other creators of website content should have granted the website owner the right to display his or her content via the website (and ideally this right should continue indefinitely).
This may mean obtaining clearances at several levels. For example, an organisation showing film footage of an event on its website, may need to obtain clearances from the director of filming, the composer (if the footage is set to music), the designer of the background set, and other rights holders before it can be shown on the website. Similarly, organisations displaying publications on their websites, need to ensure they have the necessary clearances from the writers, designers and photographers to publish the materials on-line (- as sometimes the copyright owners will only have consented to their work being published in hardcopy form).
Infringement of third party rights
Websites increasingly offer users the opportunity to contribute user generated content or participate in social networking, offering links to sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr. Other organisations offer on their websites chat rooms or space for users to contribute content or comments.
Although user generated content is an effective way to engage with the public, there is a risk that the material posted will breach other peoples’ rights. The material could infringe copyright, be defamatory, invade individuals’ privacy or be otherwise offensive, or abusive. Not only can this create legal liability, but it can be damaging to the organisation’s reputation if inappropriate material is posted.
Steps are needed to protect your organisation. This means producing clear Terms of Use regulating users’ participation in the website. It may also be advisable to not moderate user generated content (although this depends on the nature of each website) – because in legal terms there can be a greater chance of liability if the website owner has moderated infringing material.
Privacy
Websites have become the cheap and efficient way to capture personal information such as contact details from users and to add this information to mailing lists. Where personal information is provided by users, it is important that data protection legislation is complied with. Usually, this means telling website users what the organisation does, how their identifiable personal information will be used, and who it will be shared with – and to give users the opportunity to “opt-out” of your organisation contacting them in the future.
It is also important to comply with European legislation about “cookies” (a piece of text stored by a user’s browser, which can be used to track users’ web activity), and provide information about the types of cookies being used, for what purposes and how to disenable these. Organisations may need to speak to their web designers about the types of cookies used.
Online-selling
When selling tickets, publications, membership or other goods or services via an on-line shop, website owners must also comply with the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations. The key points to note are that consumers must be given clear information in writing about the goods and services being sold, the delivery and payment methods and the right to cancel orders. The consumer must also be given a period of at least seven days, known as the “cooling-off period” to cancel the order.
Consent and young people
Finally, organisations should consider if the website is suitable for young people – and what methods should be introduced if some of the content is only suitable for people above a certain age. Many websites will ask users to check a tick box, before they are allowed to look at material that is unsuitable for children, or before entering an internet chat room.
However, organisations and especially charities (that may attract young users) should be careful when using such methods. If a website area is considered to be particularly unsuitable for children or if children can be contacted by members of the public through the site, it may be inadequate to simply provide a tick box.
The website owner may need to introduce more comprehensive checking processes to ensure users are of an appropriate age. Organisations should also provide clear warnings on web pages should parts of the site be unsuitable for children, especially as recent case-law has shown that website owners risk legal action against them if their website visitors are not adequately protected.
by Erica Crump, solicitor at Bates Wells & Braithwaite solicitors. www.bateswells.co.uk
Page Last Modified: 17/08/2010