Content creation and professional liability claims
Does your business create, produce or market content? (i.e. articles, photographs, videos, or blogs).
This also includes posting content on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube or any other social media site. As a business, potentially producing content over many different channels, you are at risk of claims for libel, slander, copyright infringement or making false/misleading claims.
If creating and publishing content forms part of your business activities, you should ensure you have professional liability insurance in place.
Insurance protection can be designed to protect you against the expenses involved when a claim is made. It offers the peace of mind that if you are challenged over piece of content you produced, the legal fees to defend such an action and potential damages are covered.
Other ways to protect your business
The best advice for any business is to avoid having a claim made against you to begin with.
Purchasing a professional liability policy is important for any business that creates content for the public. But even with an insurance policy in place, the last thing you want is to face a social media storm or end up being dragged through the courts.
There are various steps you can take to avoid being hit by a professional liability claim.
The first is to implement a watertight content approval process for everything you publish. This way, nothing goes out into the world without being carefully checked to ensure it doesn’t make you liable for any claims that could be made against you, minimising the chances of anything going wrong.
Another great step is to create strict guidelines for staff regarding the use of social media, online comments, blog posts and any other content you publish. This way, your employees will be empowered with the knowledge, what is appropriate for them to publish, minimising the risk of a rogue post from an unwitting individual.
In the digital age, media never stops flowing. An ever-increasing number of businesses need professional liability protection, with more companies starting to publish content online.
As the opportunities to be enterprising grow, so do the risks of your media content strategy breaching one of the many relevant laws. Make sure you are protected against the financial burden of having a claim made against something your business has published.
Content Negligence:
All it takes is a misjudged tweet or Facebook post and your business could face claims of defamation or breach of confidentiality. A professional liability policy covers you against claims of negligence in your media content, including posts to your website, social media and blogs. When a post backfires, you’ll be glad to know your legal fees and compensation costs are covered.
Copyright Infringement:
When you’re sharing a lot of content online, it can be easy to forget that many images and other content are protected by copyright laws. Using them without permission could land you in hot water. Business insurance can provide the protection you require, footing the bills for legal costs and associated compensation payments.
Breach of Advertising Regulations:
It’s a highly competitive world, and sometimes the only way to stand out is to take risks. If you cross the line in your marketing efforts, however, you could find yourself being held in breach of advertising regulations. The consequence of this can be fines, legal costs and expensive compensation payments.
