BBF109: Cover Your ASSets Online with Lin Eleoff

You may have slaved over your business plan and every aspect of your day-to-day, but have you properly considered how exposed you might be to copyright violation? This can work both ways. Maybe your web-builder built your site using illegal images, or maybe somebody else ripped off your content. With either scenario, the consequences can be extremely costly, so that’s why we’ve invited Lin Eleoff onto this week’s show.

Lin’s background is an interesting one, having originally started out as a lawyer who then became a full-time life coach. She now uses her legal background to advise businesses about how to cover themselves, and has multiple companies across life coaching and legal services. Lin kindly shared a lot of valuable advice, so see below for the highlights:

** The first company to register a company name has the right to keep it.

** Be careful of the term ‘royalty free’. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you can use the image for free – it just means that the price of an image doesn’t increase if it is used multiple times.

** If you receive a letter pursuing you for copyright infringement, check the detail of it to make sure it isn’t a scam, i.e. find proof that the person pursuing you is indeed the legal owner of the asset they are pursuing you about.

** If your own company website is infringing copyright laws but you didn’t know about it, you – as the business owner – are still responsible. Always double-check the work of your site builders/content managers.

** Registering a trademark doesn’t automatically mean that you can forget about the issue. It’s still up to you to find instances of infringement and then pursue the offenders.

** Before you pay for legal action against a website that is wrongly using your assets, contact the site’s hosting ISP and ask them to take it down.

  In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

** The definition of ‘Royalty Free’

** Zero creative commons licenses explained

** The consequences of copying and pasting content

** DMCA takedown notices

** The difference between TM and (R)

** How to react when there is a case against you

  Resources mentioned in this episode:

** Ben’s photography website: http://www.onthreelegs.com

** Ben’s recommended stock photo library: https://graphicriver.net/

** Lin’s Gutsy Glorious Life-coaching Radio: link here

** Lin’s DIY Legal Toolkit: http://www.diylegaltoolkit.com

** Lin’s person site: http://www.coveryourassetsonline.com

** Ben’s Daily Business Tips: http://www.dbtpodcast.com

** Facebook: facebook.com/businessbrainfood

** Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

** Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

** ActionCOACH: http://actioncoachanz.com/itunes

** ActionCOACH: http://actioncoachanz.com/stitcher

According to Lin, if you use the DIY Legal Toolkit, you can achieve nearly all of the cover you need without having to pay for legal advice. Don’t delay – get your house in order! Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that! Until next time, have a profitable day. Cheers, Ben Fewtrell [phone]