Thursday July 30th 2009, by Piers Strickland
There is no single source of “website law” or “web law”. Instead, the law affecting websites (hereinafter described in this article as “Website Law”) is varied and complex, comprising elements of both civil and criminal law.
The following precise bodies of law may need to be considered by website owners operating in the UK:
- Copyright issues – websites which host copied text and other content might run into copyright infringement issues. Website owners will also want to make sure that they own their important copyright and other important content (which may be protected by a range of intellectual property rights).
- Trade mark issues – websites which use a trade mark in a URL address or otherwise use brands / trade marks in the course of trade may risk brand disputes (i.e. trade mark infringement proceedings or passing off disputes).
- Domain name issues – use of a domain name which is too close to another’s brand may also lead to a brand dispute / trade mark infringement issues.
- Defamation – any libellous content on your website could lead to a defamation issue on your website.
- Data protection – website owners are likely to be processing personal data in a way which is likely to need consideration of the UK’s Data Protection Act. Breaches of data protection law can lead to criminal sanctions.
- E-commerce laws, such as the Electronic Commerce Regulations and the Distance Selling Regulations.
- E-marketing Law – such as The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, which sets out laws relating to electronic marketing and related communications.
In other words, Website law is a complex area. Lawyers who do not specialise in the above area are not really well placed to advise on Website Law / Web law. If you require expert advice on Website Law, or on any other aspect of “Internet Law”, then please contact Strickland LLP.
In a series of future blogs, I will go into a bit further detail about the above areas of Website Law.
