Advertising Law Tool Kit - Tenth Edition | 2022

Venable / 25 Consider integrating these best practices into your campaigns: • Register your copyrights. It is inexpensive and required for litigation, and provides significant advantages, including additional damages and the potential to collect attorneys’ fees. Without a proper and timely registration, protecting your rights may not be financially viable. • Have the necessary work-for-hire and employment agreements in place for your employees, contractors, interns, and agencies. • Secure proper licenses or permissions for any materials used in your ads that your company does not own the rights to, including photos, music, video, artwork, graphics, and text, and do not forget content sourced from social media. Ideally, file the licensing documentation along with the actual project itself, so your company can locate the licenses more efficiently in case of a dispute. • Provide regular training to your employees on the use of third-party content, including social media posts and other online content, and be sure there is an understanding that online does not mean public domain. • If you host user-generated content (UGC), take advantage of the safe harbor in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by having a properly worded designation of DMCA agent on your site; making the required DMCA agent filing, amendments, and renewals with the U.S. Copyright Office; and reacting to proper DMCA take‑down notices by taking materials down when requested. But also understand that this safe harbor has its limits and does not apply when the company repurposes or reposts UGC that was directly placed by the user. • Stay alert for hot topics in copyright – for example, the increased emphasis on economics by courts considering the fair use defense; the increased enforcement by graffiti artists and photographers; and shifting rules related to embedding and online linking. • Check with your insurance carrier to determine whether your existing policies cover IP claims or whether you need to enhance your existing policies.