Website design By BotEap.comAs an insurance broker, I often receive phone calls from individuals and organizations seeking general liability coverage. The variety of these organizations runs the gamut, from your basic contractor to the model daycare center for adults. But it’s not this range that I’m concerned with, at least not for this article, it’s the individual and/or organizations who call looking for general liability insurance for a media-related business and don’t know they need a very specific and obscure coverage called media liability insurance or communications liability insurance.

Website design By BotEap.comSome of these individuals and organizations include bloggers, web developers, radio show personalities, authors, production companies, publishers and broadcasters of instructional material, radio and television stations, motion picture companies, cable and satellite broadcasters, and electronic publishing services of the advertising industries, as well as any other entities engaged in the preparation of materials for publication, republishing, and electronic publishing services, just to name a few.

Website design By BotEap.comMany of these individuals or organizations do not realize that they need media liability coverage, and worse, many insurance professionals do not even know that media liability coverage exists or that the coverage is most likely specifically excluded from their general liability. Personal and advertising injuries relate to liability, slander, defamation of character, as well as copyright, patent and trademark infringement. Most of the time, it is only when there is a claim, and too late, that individuals or organizations learn that the most important coverage for their operation is excluded from their policy, media liability. In most cases, your search begins after you receive instructions from a vendor or contractor to obtain liability insurance. However, there are people in the industry who know they need the coverage, but have a hard time finding a professional who knows anything about the coverage or where to get it.

Website design By BotEap.comIn any case, most of these individuals or organizations are desperate when they find us. Most of whom have been told that the insurance they are looking for does not exist or is not available from the last dozen brokers or agents they have spoken with. There are clear reasons for this frustration, and even clearer reasons why their search for liability insurance leads them to so many dead ends.

Website design By BotEap.comFor most of us, familiarity with the insurance company comes from advertisements, including, for the most part, those for AllState, Geico, Nationwide, and Liberty Mutual, none of which offer, at this time, any variety of real media liability insurance. As a result, most people feel frustrated and discouraged. While media liability insurance coverage is a very simple form of insurance to understand, however, most captive agents do not offer it. For agents and brokers who primarily deal with auto and home insurance as a staple of their business model, exploring and becoming proficient in such a specific type of product is unrelated to their own operations.

Website design By BotEap.comBy now, you’re most likely wondering, okay, what is media coverage? Media liability insurance protects you against claims arising from the display, communication, transmission or provision of information in a way that may violate the rights of others. Media Liability Insurance provides valuable third-party coverage against liability, slander, defamation of character, copyright, trademark and patent infringement, personal injury liability, invasion of privacy claims, or unfair competition claims RESULTING in financial consequences or personal injury. Examples of these circumstances would include printing a hurtful statement about someone, making defamatory comments about an individual or a company’s product, using someone’s logo or even the unlicensed use of a cartoon character in an advertisement or publication, distributing someone’s illegally obtained photos, or marketing your product by making false claims about your competitors’ products.

Website design By BotEap.comAccording to the Citizen Media Project, which is affiliated with Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, lawsuits in the US increased 70% in 2008 compared to 2006. The cost of hiring an attorney and defending these allegations can range from $5,000 to at least $100,000 if the case goes to trial. in 17 cases, totaling $43.9 million,” said Ron Coleman, trademark attorney at Goetz Fitzpatrick in New York. (1)

Website design By BotEap.comThat’s an average of nearly $2.6 million per trial, before legal costs. It has been claimed in various internet publications that 50% of adults are members of social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Many times the posts on these networking sites are written quickly and off the cuff, many times these posts can be taken out of context and, because they are stored indefinitely, can leave people open to complaints in the future. This brings us to another point; adults should make sure they have personal injury coverage on their homeowners policy. Adding this coverage is minimal, and in fact, this coverage is necessary if you have or plan to obtain a general personal liability policy. For an individual in a non-media related industry, this coverage provides similar protection, but on a personal level. In a recent case involving a young man blogging on the Internet, the policyholder’s daughter hated math class as much as the teacher. The daughter made several “disparaging” comments about her online teacher. The teacher successfully sued the parents and was awarded $750,000.

Website design By BotEap.comThe problem with our litigious society is that many times a claim or demand may not involve an error or omission. For example, a client may not be happy with the service or simply does not want to pay a bill, they can start a lawsuit or claim alleging an error or omission, but their real objective is to avoid payment for services rendered. In this case and in all cases where a lawsuit or lawsuit is filed, the defendant still needs to hire a lawyer and respond to the lawsuit. In this case, Media Liability Insurance typically pays the cost of defending this type of claim, which in many cases is the majority of the cost of the lawsuit.

Website design By BotEap.comTailored to the needs of a growing number of businesses with exposure to communications, today’s media liability policies are carefully underwritten by a major group of insurers.

Website design By BotEap.comThe following are some famous examples of claims pertaining to this form of insurance:

• In 1981, Carol Burnett was awarded $1.6 million ($3.8 million in 2009 value) after suing the National Enquirer for describing her alleged public drunkenness.
• In 2006, chief Gordon Ramsey sued Associated Newspaper LTD for alleging that he “falsified some of his scenes”. Associated paid Ramsey $138,000 and an apology.(2)