Averting Disaster – Do Your Research (Part 2)

When close to 1000 hours of work have gone into designing and marketing a product and suddenly, because of legal complications, the product has to be completely rebranded – where does one begin?

The following story is true. Certain names and details have been altered to protect the privacy and integrity of those involved.  Read Part 1 of the article.

Step 1 – Scramble

Upon receiving the news that The Tea Council had to be retooled, three things happened almost immediately. The first was our project manager had a brief meeting with each individual involved in the project and asked us what was necessary and what was possible based on what needed to be rebranded. He asked specifically if it could be done in a week. The second thing that happened almost instantly was a decision was made on what to now call the conference. It was changed to “The Tea Lovers Summit”. Finally, an email blast (about 40,000 emails) was sent to everyone who had already signed up for, or purchased, the summit explaining that it was being pushed back by one week.

Step 2 – Rethink Possible

My initial reaction was that it couldn’t be done. For my part, I would have been responsible for removing any mention of the term “the tea council” from both audio and video of all content materials. When I considered that I had already put in 100 hours of work and had to contemplate the host of the conference potentially redoing or scrapping several interviews, I thought there was no way it could be done along the desired timeline. Upon deeper reflection, I thought about removing most of the work from my own time and allowing most of the work to fall on my computer’s shoulders.

It takes far longer to grow a hedge than it does to trim it. Removing any specific mention of “the Tea Council” didn’t mean listening through and completely reediting the interviews or completely building a new video – the processes that are the most time consuming – it meant just chopping off a few bits and making a new file. Luckily the lawyers did a lot of the work for me. Transcripts of every presentation, which had already been done by our team, were handed over to the summit presenter’s lawyers and were then transferred over the Council on Teas legal team for review so as to determine what kind of verbiage would need to be omitted from the presentations. We discovered that the Tea Council was only ever specifically mentioned during the introduction and outro of every presentation. I had the presenter record a standard introduction that used the new moniker for the conference, which I then replaced with all the previous introductions, and simply cut any mention of the conference should it have happened an the end of the presentation. This meant that almost 99% of the presentation stayed in tact. From there it was a simple replacement of the audio from the videos with the new presentation audio, instead of building a brand new video from scratch.

Step 3 – Prepare For a Few Sleepless Nights

Besides all the work on my end, there was the website which thankfully didn’t have to be rebuilt, only migrated. All the copy had to be changed, and with all the banners and logos the style was fine and only the wording had to be tinkered with slightly. Getting all the content back out took a mere 3 days, and most of that work was my computer rendering new files - I simply had to be around to set it up and execute it.

The Fallout

At the end of the day we had all our materials approved and ready for the new launch a solid 48 hours before the conference was finally released to the public. Dealing exclusively digitally meant that no manufactured products had to go to waste. Ultimately, what it amounted to was nothing more than 24 hours of unwarranted panic because of course it was possible to rebrand the entire conference. All it takes to do anything is a competent team, assured in their own strengths, with the commitment to get the job done. Admittedly, the conference did not achieve the lofty expectations we had initially set out with, but we learned what our team was capable of when put under duress – and the response was nothing short of splendid. Furthermore, we learned a very valuable lesson – before you do anything, do your research.

Averting Disaster – Do Your Research (Part 1)

I was recently privy to one of the worst branding disasters I’ve ever encountered. The effect on the team launching the product was near catastrophic and hindsight proved just how avoidable it all was. There are a few simple rules to a product launch and I’m hoping that my recent experience can shed a light on how to avoid this problem in the future.

The following story is true. Certain names and details have been altered to protect the privacy and integrity of those involved.

The Product

I work as a digital media consultant responsible for developing content for various companies that choose to market their business on the internet. A well-intentioned individual who runs a website and blog devoted to tea was looking to expand their audience by hosting an online tea conference bringing experts from all over the world to discuss everything concerning tea, called “The Tea Council”. The online conference would be composed of 30 presentations and interviews on various subjects as they relate to tea marketed for free over a one-week period, and available for sale thereafter through the blog and various affiliates for $29.99.

The Team

A tremendous amount of work is involved to put together one of these online conferences for which there are numerous benefits to the consumer. First, during the week of the conference the information is available for free. Second, there is no need to buy a ticket, purchase a flight, or book a hotel room in another city - the entire conference can be enjoyed from one’s bedroom. And finally, the information is available to the consumer in perpetuity. In order to create this product, a whole content team and marketing team need to be assembled to create the product and to put it out to the world. Web space for the “theteacouncil” was purchased and all content and marketing for the conference would be channeled through that space. A single online conference takes a solid 2 to 3 months to put together employing about a dozen individuals all trained in their specific discipline as well as coordinating with a large group of experts who all have a stake in how great the reach is for this conference.

My Role

As the one responsible for designing the content, it was my job to consult with our client on how to make the best use of digital media to communicate the information of an expert with an audience of lay people. An interview is conducted between the conference host and the expert that is recorded and edited, and then turned into a final podcast-type deliverable for the consumer. Those interviews are then transcribed, from which a power point presentation is created. This power point is then turned into a video and is matched with the audio presentation which itself is delivered to the consumer. All in all, for thirty presentations, on my end alone, it was about 100 hours of work.

How It All Broke Down in the Blink of an Eye

We were less than a week away to launch. All the content was in place, all the affiliates were on board, and initial pre-registrations had already taken place. Heavy traffic was already heading to the website and sales were already being made. The client received a cease and desist letter from the owner of a website called “councilonteas.com”. After an initial review from a lawyer, although being reassured that the Council on Teas didn’t have much of a case, legal fees alone would cut significantly into the budget of the conference. The owner of the Council on Teas was also adamant that a deal could not be struck and that the Tea Council was in breach of a trademarked product and would be legally blocked from launching their product, and would face legal repercussions and be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, should they continue with their launch as planned.

 Lesson Learned

A simple Google search would have shown the existence of the Council on Teas company and their website, and the initial decision to launch the conference as “The Tea Council” had to be considered a terrible oversight. Even if the desired web space was available, it would have been preferable to do some initial market research and explore any websites and names that might have even been remotely similar to anything they wanted to launch.

Read on to Part 2 to find out what it took to finally get a completed product completely rebranded and launched.

Areas of Potential Liability for Website Owners

When was the last time you read the fine print on the terms and conditions of a website? Most of us don’t take the time to read them, finding the legalese too boring. We just click "I accept" so we can get to the good stuff.

However, as a business owner you don't have the luxury of skipping over that fine print. In fact, those terms and conditions might actually become your strongest defense against frivolous litigation.

This is why companies invest in experienced legal counsel to craft liability language. This will make sure your business is protected even from the casual visitor who might have "issues" with your website content. The goal is to reduce the possibility of a lawsuit.  

Here are some things to consider adding to your own terms and conditions to afford any potential liability claims.

Protect your data. If you intend to sell your email list to a third party (it can be a good source of revenue) then you need to be protected with a strong "personal information" provision that spells out your intentions. Even if you don't plan to use that information you still want to be protected in the likelihood that the data is compromised.

Errors and omissions. This is a clause that is include in most business contracts but should also be included on your website. Suppose you post content with facts or figures that prove to be inaccurate or become out of date? Hopefully, you can correct that when notified but until then you shouldn't be held as negligent for a simple oversight.

Unknown malware. There is no telling if or when your website could be attacked by an outside entity until it is too late. If a visitor picks up a "virus" by visiting your site should you be held responsible? Not if you have the right kind of language in your terms and conditions.

Transmission problems. If your server goes down and a customer's own business or service is interrupted, you shouldn't be held liable. Crashes will happen and you'll need to be protected especially when the loss of data could occur.

Copyright infringement. You should do your best not to engage in any copyright infringement but that doesn't mean it can't occur. Suppose you have a forum where a user posts something that is protected. Are you liable? What if someone considers material as defamatory? You can't predict everyone's reaction to all that you'll be posting but you can protect yourself from those reactions.

Confiscation of data. There may be instances where a user's personal information is subjected to foreign government control. In the U.S. there are many heated discussions about this very issue as it pertains to investigations sanctioned by the Patriot Act. You can let your users know they might be subjected to these types of date mining through no fault of your company.

Fortunately, businesses have worked out many of these issues in their own terms and conditions language. You can take advantage of that by obtaining boilerplates of these provisions. You'll still need a lawyer to review them before you post on your website but using boilerplate language can reduce the costs of writing up this liability protection. 

How to Protect your Company from a Lawsuit

Nobody likes getting sued. If you’re a start-up, a lawsuit can bring your business to a screeching halt.

On some level, you can’t ever provide 100% protection against a lawsuit. Anyone can sue anyone at any time. The issue becomes whether that lawsuit has merit or not. Hopefully you can institute the following steps to make sure you would be protected against lawyers bringing frivolous lawsuits against your company.

Step 1: Be patent and copyright compliant

If you are selling a product that you invented, you should have patent and copyright protection in place before you make any sale. There are plenty of internet resources you can tap into that will let you determine whether or not you might be infringing on someone else’s copyrighted material. If you’re making a new product is “like” another product then having your own copyright or patent should insulate you from a lawsuit going forward. This type of research should also apply to any type of logo or other marketing device you intend on using. For instance, if you’re selling a new patented blend of cotton T-shirt but have Mickey Mouse imprinted as the design you could be sued by the Disney Company unless you have licensed that image.

Step 2: Incorporate

As the sole owner of a start-up business, you might think it’s not necessary for you to incorporate yourself. After all, you’re making all the decisions, right? In truth, incorporation provides a layer of protection against liability. If your business is sued it would only be the assets of that incorporated business that would be at risk. All of your personal assets would be safe. In the worst case scenario, an incorporated business can declare bankruptcy and you can turn around a start a new business the next day with a new corporation.

Step 3: Always get it in writing

There isn’t an aspect of your business that couldn’t benefit from a well written contract. Whether that document is between you and an employee, vendor or client having all the terms clearly spelled out will help reduce the instance when someone could find fault with your practices. That’s why contracts should always include clauses to consider all the possibilities of a particular outcome. 

Step 4: Don’t steal staff

Too often the best potential workers are already working somewhere else. There is nothing wrong with hiring a worker away from another company. It happens all the time. However, when you get into situations where intellectual property is involved it might cause some problems down the road. For instance, if you’re starting a mobile game development company and you poach a great designer from another company, that company might take exception with the kind of knowledge their former employee is bringing to your company. This is why there are non-compete clauses in a person’s severance contract. If you are hiring someone in a situation like that make sure they are coming to your business free and clear.

Protecting Your Original Content Online

It’s inevitable that as a publisher of original content, someone will steal it.  What’s important is how you deal with it. With the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), there are ways you can protect your content from people who steal from your site. And you don’t need to be a lawyer to understand how it works. 

There are six ways that you can protect your content online.  By taking these actions, you reduce the chances for your online content to be stolen.  

·         Learn the basics of copyright law. According to the DMCA, your post is protected as soon as you publish it. As a creator – the content becomes your intellectual property and no one can reproduce it without your permission. 

·         Post a copyright notice on your website.  Although having a copyright notice on the bottom of your website does not protect you, it does tell everyone that the content is your intellectual property.  It is used as a warning for others that copying your content is not legal.   

·         Post a permissions policy. Create a permissions policy page which clarifies what people can do with your content.  It allows other webmasters a guide to follow on what they can or cannot do with your content. 

·         Request that they remove your post. Ask the offender to remove your post by email or in the comments – politely.  In many cases, people may not know that they have done an offence and just need to be educated. Most likely they will comply once you’ve notified them.

·         Notify the ISP (Internet Service Provider).  The DMCA allows copyright owners to have ISPs comply with “take down” requests. In this case, ISPs can be any website that hosts the offending website or content. You may have to do a bit of research in order to find the right hosting service or even contact name. However, once you’ve sent them an email, the ISPs will do their research into your request.  If the ISP finds that there is a copyright infringement, they will make their own request to the website owner or take down the site.   

·         Hire a copyright lawyer. If nothing else works, you may have to resort to hiring a lawyer who can go after the offender.  Keep in mind that lawyers can be expensive and there can be no guarantee that you will be successful.  

If you use a Wordpress blog, download and install one of their plugins – the WP Copyprotect. This locks your content so that no one can highlight and copy your content. However, for the real pirates, this won’t deter them as they can merely shut down their website and appear elsewhere with another site.

The best strategy is to create great original content that your readers will love and share. This not only helps build credibility but also brand loyalty that keeps your readers coming back.

Intellectual Property: Tips on How to Protect Your Business Online

Intellectual property is anything that you or your business creates that is the property of your business. Each of the super heroes in the smash hit movie, Avengers, are the intellectual property of Marvel Comics. This means you can’t use The Hulk to advertise your spring sale. When you or your company creates a piece of intellectual property whether it’s a slogan, a character, a recipe or logo you are well within your rights to make sure that property is protected. In this age of social media networking, keeping up with that protection can become a challenging and full-time job. The following are some insightful tips on how you can protect your intellectual property and what to do when someone steals it.

·         Patent, Trademark, and/or Copyright First

You really can’t make a claim against someone who is using your intellectual property unless you first register that property. This will require filing an official trademark or copyright application for your property. A trademark protects your company information from being used by another company. Going back to the Avengers example, the next Batman movie can’t have Spiderman in it because those are two separately trademarked characters and can only be used with permission from the trademark owner. Copyriting typically applies to a work that you intend to publish like a story, article or photo. These can also be created by your business as a way of promotion but can’t be used by other companies unless you give them permission. A lawyer who is familiar with these types of laws can advise you as to which is the best application to file for protection.

·         IP Monitoring

If you are serious about protecting your intellectual property then you’re going to have to invest into some time into monitoring your brand to see if your property is being inappropriately used. This isn’t just about checking into Facebook once a day, but instead dedicating time to conduct comprehensive searches across all kinds of social networking sites and other web portals.

·         Decide If Your Have Been Infringed Upon

Suppose your company creates a brand icon like the Pillsbury Doughboy. After trademarking this icon, it becomes very popular and begins popping up as people’s profile picture or on their blogs. Is that real infringement? Is your business being damaged? Your reputation being tarnished? Only you can make that call but just because someone might be using your icon or other intellectual property in the vast outreaches of cyberspace doesn’t mean your business will suffer. On some level, you can’t realistically chase down every infringement. You have to pick your battles wisely.

·         Taking Action

When it has been determined that your intellectual property is indeed being misused then you can take appropriate legal action. The first would be a cease and desist order. This would be a legal letter sent from your company’s attorney informing the user that they need to stop using your intellectual property immediately. Once you’ve put them on notice and they still keep using the property, you can sue them for trademark or copyright infringement. Proving damages in court can be tricky and costly for you. Often, the cease and desist order will do the trick.