by Desislava Stankova | Sep 22, 2015 | Blogging, Contracting, E-Commerce, Liability and the Internet, News and Events, Privacy and Data Protection
When you hear someone mentioning privacy and data protection, you might think it affects you only when your privacy is at stake. However, as soon as you start your business’ online presence and even more when you actively start doing business online (as well as offline), certain obligations to protect individuals’ privacy start to exist for you. Many people are not aware that the EU has stricter privacy and data protection rules compared to the USA for example – that is to say that here, in good old Europe, we take privacy very seriously. PRIVACY POLICY, WHY? Here are several tips as to why you need to implement a Privacy Policy on your website: You are required by law to inform users about certain aspects of processing personal data; You are required by some of your providers to have a Privacy Policy (e.g. when you use Google Analytics, PayPal, etc.); You need a way to obtain users’ consent about the personal data processing you do; It makes you (look) more transparent and honest to customers/business partners, i.e. it creates trust. PRIVACY POLICY GENERAL TIPS Keep it simple Do not use too sophisticated legal language – all that legal mumbo-jumbo sounds great for lawyers, but everyone else finds it really hard to read and understand. And a well-kept secret is that even lawyers are often bored and confused by excessive legal terminology. Be specific and include details (not to the extreme) At the same time you need to include specific details about the way you process personal data, the types of data you process, etc. Including a privacy policy that...
by Desislava Stankova | Aug 29, 2015 | Blogging, Contracting, Intellectual Property, Liability and the Internet, News and Events, Privacy and Data Protection
We already discussed how to use other people’s creative works and how to protect your intellectual property online, so now it is time to find out more about the legal aspects of privacy when running your blog, as well as other important issues to consider such as spam, defamation, using third party blog tools, user generated content, etc. Privacy and data protection or just do not share details of your neighbor’s PMS on your blog Processing other people’s personal data is carefully regulated in Europe and should be taken seriously. Under EU law, personal data can only be gathered legally under strict conditions, for a legitimate purpose. Personal information is any information about an individual who can be identified and relates to his physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity. It includes data such as name, address, phone number, place of birth, ID and passport data, marital status, professional biography, mental condition, sexual orientation, race, religious views, property and financial status, participation in companies, etc. Processing personal data more or less includes any operation performed with regards to the information, such as collection, recording, organization, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission and many others. Simply said, if you happen to share info on your blog about your coworker who broke their leg and stayed home on sick leave, maybe a bit too long, be advised that this may be illegal, unless your colleague expressly agreed on you posting this information. One of the most important principles of data protection is that personal data should not be processed at all, except when certain conditions are...
by Desislava Stankova | Jul 29, 2015 | Blogging, Liability and the Internet, News and Events, Social Media Law
It is a story about mr.L (a ferry company majority shareholder), an article in Delfi (one of the largest Estonian news portals), plenty of insulting comments under the article and the freedom of expression in the EU. The story ended recently on June 16, 2015 when the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) upheld the 2013 decision of the Chamber of the ECtHR on the Delfi v. Estonia (no.64569/09) case. But let`s see how did it all begin. The Story It all started in 2006 with an article about mr. L’s shipping company which changed routes of its ferries and the implications this change had on ice roads. Hundreds of angry comments followed with about 20 of them being truly insulting to mr. L and even vulgar. The owner’s lawyers contacted Delfi and requested the immediate removal of the defamatory comments and the payment of damages to mr. L. Delfi, following its notice-and-takedown regime, deleted the comments (which have been visible for 6 weeks already) the same day, but refused to pay damages. Thus, Mr. L brought the case to the Estonian court, claiming about 32,000 EUR in damages. Estonian Court decision(s) Delfi lost the case in the Estonian courts and damages were awarded to the shipping company owner. The courts in Estonia concluded that the comments, being defamatory and insulting, cannot be protected as freedom of expression. The amount of the damages have been ridiculously small, only 320 EUR, but one may wonder how did Delfi lost at all, considering the limited liability provided to intermediaries under the EU’s e-Commerce Directive. Indeed Delfi claimed...
by Desislava Stankova | Apr 21, 2015 | Blogging, Contracting, E-Commerce, Intellectual Property, Liability and the Internet, News and Events
It has not been long since you started your blog, but it turns out to be so valued by your readers that they gracefully start using significant parts of your content on their own blogs, corporate websites and other materials. As flattering as it is, the appreciation of your work, you probably prefer to be asked for permission by others who enjoy using your work, and certainly the law gives you that right. Here are several useful strategies to protect your intellectual property online. Protect Now or Cry Later It is always better to act before your intellectual property is infringed, so that once it happens, you are better prepared to fight back and your protection is stronger than your infringer is prepared. Keep in mind that in case of a copyright dispute, you will need to be able to demonstrate that you are the author of the disputed content (or it was created for you) and the date when you created and published it. Secure Your Contracts If possible, sign written contracts with anyone who helps you create and maintain your blog – e.g. web designers, image and article contributors, marketing experts who help you make it popular, everyone. This way you will have written evidence about your rights to use whatever is posted on your blog. Special attention should be paid to ensure you have the rights to your own website if you pay someone else to develop it. To read the full article, check Chicoverdose where it was originally...
by Desislava Stankova | Apr 14, 2015 | Blogging, E-Commerce, Intellectual Property, Liability and the Internet, News and Events
Congratulations – you have a blog now and you are ready to start writing, creating, sharing and networking! Yet, all the fun may be intertwined with the risk of legal liability – think take down letters, complaints and infringement claims. Not a funny side of blogging, I know. Let’s look at blogging from several legal perspectives: Part One will focus on what bloggers should do or avoid doing in order to stay away from legal liability when using materials created by others; Part Two will explore the various ways to protect your creative works and rights when blogging; And in Part Three, we will go into further aspects a blogger may encounter legal liability or just mere communication problems, e.g. defamation, illegal processing of personal data, using third party blog tools, etc. Copyright means “I can copy it”, right? Actually, copyright means that once you are the original author or copyright holder of a creative work that is fixed in a tangible medium (e.g. paper, online, etc.), you have the exclusive right to use it (sell, make copies, publish, etc.), and to prevent others from using it without your permission. Plus, in most cases, you can demand payment for use. Unlike trademarks and patents, copyright is granted the moment the work is created and fixed. For example, if the blogger only thought about the blog post in their mind, this obviously would not be enough for copyright protection, but once the article is written in a computer file or posted online, as long as it is original and creative, it becomes a work protected by copyright, without the need...
