Unfortunately,
the legal arena around the Web has always been a bit foggy. This is largely a result of the
mixed ownership of content, how copyright is handled, how trademarks are protected,
and how institutions shield themselves from lawsuit-happy lawyers firing threatening
letters at anything that moves.
Many corporations have taken it upon themselves to clear up any confusion about content
ownership and protection by drafting their own custom declarations. Much of this heavy
lifting occurs within tiny little links marked ???Terms of Use??? or ???Copyright??? or ???Privacy
Policy,??? usually found in the footer of the site. These pages of legalese??”which can be
more obtuse than a PowerPoint presentation from the federal government??”spell out in
no uncertain terms who is liable for what.
While it??™s annoying that the Web has fallen into a state of rampant copyright infringement
and malicious drive-by malware downloads, a business can take large steps toward protecting
its online presence by adding some of this legalese to its website.
This chapter is not meant as legal advice, nor is it a definitive guide on writing complex
documents such as terms of use and privacy statements, which, for some sites, most definitely
requires the assistance of legal professionals.
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