Intellectual Property Lawyers l Digital Media Solicitors
Specialist Intellectual Property and Digital Media Legal Advice

Blog For Empowering Creatives: IP and Digital Media Lawyers Insights

PAIL Solicitors IP and Digital Media Blog

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When I think of Frank Sinatra's "My Way," I see a connection to the main ideas behind intellectual property law. "My Way" embodies personal expression and an individual's journey through life, which parallels the concept of the ideas-expressions dichotomy in copyright law. It echoes the principle that music, literature, or art can be copyrighted while allowing others to explore the same ideas without infringing upon that particular expression. Sinatra's anthem also celebrates uniqueness, which is reflected in the definitions of all of the varying types of intellectual property.

The Purpose of This Blog

The articles on this blog are all written, reviewed, and edited by me, Mr Peter Adediran, the Digital Media and Intellectual Property Solicitor at PAIL Solicitors. They are intended to empower the new generation of business executives, professionals, business owners and creatives who want to keep up with intellectual property, digital media and entertainment law in the digital age. Most importantly, empower the community of creatives who want to create works "their way". In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, staying informed and increasing knowledge in specialised legal services is crucial for e-commerce and digital technology businesses. At PAIL® Solicitors, we understand the unique challenges start-ups, business owners, professionals, business executives, creatives, writers and talent face in protecting their intellectual property and navigating legal complexities. By reading this blog and engaging us as your legal representatives you can safeguard yours and your company's reputations, make informed financial decisions, and confidently expand into new markets by focusing on continuous learning and expertise in these areas.

This blog contains articles on the following themes:

  • Advice on Protecting Digital Content

Encouragement to Stay Informed and Protected

For creatives and businesses alike, staying informed about legal issues surrounding intellectual property is critical. Knowledge is a powerful tool for safeguarding one’s work from infringement or misuse. We encourage individuals to engage with our resources, participate in discussions, and keep abreast of developments in IP law. 

Illegal website products

 

Illegal website products

Illegal website products – Can I legally sell any products on my website?

Whether you are building an online market place (e.g. a platform for buying and selling electronic goods for which you charge a fee), or an ecommerce or ebusiness platform (e.g. you are selling electronic goods directly to the consumer or supplying other businesses), illegal website products should be a consideration for you. You need to know what you can sell and why you are prohibited from selling certain products.

Illegal website products is an area that causes some confusion. As well as other important issues like compliance with consumer laws, lawful business practices, intellectual property and jurisdiction matters, awareness of what can be legally sold on your website is important. You should also look to cover the issue of Illegal website products in your website terms and conditions.

Here are some important tips.

1. Selling Apple and other branded products – Although you can sell products from any manufacturer on your online store, there are restrictions. Different manufacturers have their own intellectual property policies. Intellectual property is important since manufacturers do not authorise the sale of their products using their trademarks without a prior license. There may also be patent, design rights and other intellectual property rights that could be infringed by sale of other companies’ products.

2. False Products – Make sure you address false products on your site. For every available major product there’s a counterfeit, particular hardware like Ipads and laptops, pharmaceutical and fashion products. There is always somebody attempting to make money simply because the item they are selling looks similar to another original item.

3. Items you can’t sell on your site – Obviously stolen items, making cash from drug deals, counterfeit items, and guns are all things any reasonable person would be aware of as being unlawful to try to sell on a website. They are all usually banned from all online market platforms that operate within the law like EBay. But what most people don’t think about is what exactly is banned? Can someone sell an unwanted airplane ticket or cigarettes for example? Reselling football tickets, and I mean football in the UK not football in the USA, is a legal minefield. On a site like EBay, who have an army of lawyers, they have thought things through carefully. On EBay the sale of any football tickets for matches in England and Wales is banned. There is a long list of banned items in the EBay terms and conditions.

4. Action – In order to stay within the law you need to monitor carefully what is being sold on you site. EBay for example provides an item reporting screen where anything that goes against policy can be flagged up by users for their staff to deal with.

In certain circumstances if someone is selling something on online retail stores that is illegal you could end up liable in a court case. You should give this issue some thought in your terms and conditions.

The Guide To Selling Online 

Trademark Legal Advice

TRADE MARK REFUSAL LAWYERS

To obtain a quotation, please contact us at (020) 7305-7491 or at peter@pailsolicitors.co.uk. We would be delighted to assist you. Mr Peter Adediran is the owner and principal solicitor at PAIL® Solicitors.  Subscribe to our newsletter to get blog post updates and other information about the firm straight to your inbox.

Meet The Team: Peter Adediran; Maya El Husseini; Gabrielle Felix; Poppy Harston