How to avoid internet legal problems

Tags, trademarks and linking, the do’s and don’ts...

What are Meta Tags?

Meta tag information is hidden inside the HTML coding of a web page and is coded specifically to help rank in search engine listings. Meta tag information commonly includes:

• Page title - the title of the page
• Page description - a brief description of the page content
• Keywords - words that are relevant to the page and are key to search engine listings (when searched for)

You can view the meta tags of a web page through your internet browser by clicking ‘View’, then ‘Source’.

Violating the Use of Meta Tags

When inserting Meta tags, make sure that you are only using information and words that are relevant to the page. If you use key words that are trademarks to other companies - although it is not officially illegal - you can be taken to court. For example, if a local food retailer had a web site and they used key words such as ‘Sainsbury’s’, ‘Tesco’, and ‘Safeway’ to take advantage of people searching for those particular companies, it is a direct violation of their trademarks as they have no relevancy to their business. Basically, they are using the success of other companies to make money.

Using Trademarks in Meta Tags Legally

It should be noted that you can use trademarks of other companies if they accurately describe your product. For example an on-line car sales garage can use the words ‘Volkswagen’ and ‘Ford’ if they stock such cars.

Copyright Protection Online

Copyright principles and law are exactly the same on the Internet as they are “offline”. However, because material published on the Internet can be accessed by millions of people world-wide, it is much more common for copyright infringements to occur on the Internet then any other medium.

A Tip to Reduce Online Copyright Violation

By using specific javascript (inserted into the HTML), you can disable the ‘right click’ function on your page(s) therefore preventing users from accessing the ‘copy’ option from the menu.

Reproducing Material from Another Web Site

If you wish to reproduce material from another web site, read their copyright notice (link usually found on their home page) as this will often detail their policy on reproducing their material.
If they do not have a copyright notice you should ask permission before reproducing any material.

Reproducing Other People’s Logos

In general, it is illegal to reproduce other people’s logos - but is it illegal when you reproduce them to benefit the consumer (and not yourself )? For example, you may want to reproduce somebody’s logo with the intention to link to their web site - the familiarity of the logo to consumers will be beneficial. Again - yes it is illegal. However, companies may be more relaxed to giving you permission to use their logo if it is beneficial to them such as for
linking purposes. Even government web sites do not appreciate the reproduction of their
logos (regardless of Crown Copyright) without prior permission - some will not even give you the permission at any expense. This may come as a shock to most people as Government web sites are the result of tax payers. For example, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) state “As a government department we do not allow the use of our logo (for reproduction)…” They believe that the use of the logo will give consumers the false idea that the OFT have examined and approved aspects of the business, as opposed to showing that a business is licensed under the Consumer Credit Act (for their protection).

Can Linking to Web Sites be Illegal?

The Internet would not be the Internet if millions of web pages were not linked together. However, some web publishers see it as an offence if links from third parties by-pass their home page and link directly to a page within their web site (deep linking). The common reason for this is the fact that deep linking by-passes most of their advertising that is located on their home page. In theory, linking is not illegal. However, there have been cases where people have been sued for deep-linking into a web site as opposed to their home page. Such action commonly comes from the larger companies: smaller businesses (with web sites) usually welcome such linking although it is still worthwhile double-checking before you do so (see the next paragraph). It may be seen as a violation (by the web publisher) if your links suggests that you are related to the linking web site or if you use their trademarks as a text link.

Avoid Linking Disputes

If you want to link to another web site, you should look at their policy for linking to them (usually found in their ‘terms and conditions of use’). Many web publishers are happy for you to freely link to their pages where some may set strict rules for linking to their home page only. If the web site does not publish a policy, you should contact them for permission prior to deep linking into their site. You should only link directly to HTML pages and not images, sounds and video. This will give the impression that the material is yours (copyright violation).