Law on the internet
Defamation
Contempt of Court
Intellectual property: use of non-British Council material on British Council sites
Intellectual property: protecting British Council copyright and trademarks
Intellectual property: moral rights
Data Protection Act
'Use of Data' Notice
Registering to collect personal information
Sites aimed at children
Sensitive personal data
User Rights
Access for people with disabilities
British Council website authors must seek the advice of British Council lawyers whenever legal problems are encountered or suspected.
There are significant differences between the legal systems of:
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England and Wales |
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Scotland |
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Northern Ireland |
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the countries in which we operate worldwide. |
If not observed these differences can cause serious problems.
Laws relating to broadcasting such as defamation, contempt, copyright and trademarks apply equally to the internet.
It should be noted that our websites are subject to the laws of any country where they are received and if we break or infringe these laws we may be legally liable. With copyright and trademarks, it may be possible to clear material for use online.
The internet can pose difficult legal problems. If in any doubt, seek advice from a Legal Advisor.
Particular care must be taken to avoid the publication of defamatory material through user-generated content on bulletin boards or other interactive areas. One option is to premoderate high-risk sites but this may not always be practicable or the best legal solution (see below).
The 1996 Defamation Act provides the ‘innocent disseminator’ of libellous material with a defence. An innocent disseminator needs to be able to demonstrate that (1) they are not the author, editor, or publisher of the material, (2) they took reasonable care in relation to the material, and (3) they had no reason to believe that their actions caused or contributed to the publication of the material.
Premoderating material can require us to adopt an editorial role but the ‘innocent disseminator’ cannot be an editor or author, so deciding how and when to intervene when moderating is of the highest importance. If in doubt about the degree of moderation a site should receive, refer to the Senior Internet Business Development Manager, who may contact a Legal Advisor.
Irrespective of how the user-generated content is moderated we must respond to complaints as soon as reasonably practicable. This may include removing the material complained of. Failure to do so could constitute failure to take reasonable care precluding us from using the ‘innocent disseminator’ defence.
If in any doubt about whether material is defamatory, contact a Legal Advisor.
Where legal proceedings become 'active', there are concerns about contempt of court in addition to the usual issues. Consideration should be given to links to archived stories that could create a substantial risk of serious prejudice. Where appropriate, these should be removed. For advice, consult a Legal Advisor.
The British Council wishes to protect its own material particularly if it is likely to be commercially exploited by others online. This extends to web site content and to domain names (urls or web site addresses) whether or not they are connected to a site.
Appropriate copyright and trademark notices should be used on sites to indicate British Council ownership of material. Domain names should be considered for early registration in accordance with the British Council’s domain name policy. The domain name policy is managed by Corporate IT.
Legal action will be considered if a site is run for commercial gain, trades off the British Council's name, damages the British Council in some way, or where a domain name conflicts with a British Council trade mark or brand. Action may also be considered where a site is non-commercial but contains a large amount of British Council copyright material or uses the British Council logo, but often an informal initial approach is more appropriate on these occasions.
If anyone sees a site or domain name that is exploiting British Council material they should contact a Legal Advisor before taking any action.
All third-party material, e.g. text, pictures, graphics, audio, video and trade marks that the British Council does not own, must be cleared in advance for use on the internet through the relevant rights/clearance department and in the case of trade marks through a Legal Advisor.
Never assume that copyright owners of material on internet sites have waived their rights simply by putting material online. Even if material appears on a site, the copyright owner may not have given permission and so care must be taken to check any disclaimers on sites. Unless it is made clear that the material may be used without permission or acknowledgement, always make sure that the copyright owners have been contacted and have given their permission in writing before using the material.
Deep linking to and/or framing of third-party sites, inappropriate use of meta tags and use of third-party logos as linking icons can, in certain circumstances, amount to infringement, although the law is not well-developed. Caution must be exercised and, if in doubt seek, advice from the Senior Internet Business Development Manager.
Care must be taken to observe authors' moral rights (see below) and make sure that appropriate notices and credits are given to third-party copyright and trade mark owners.
Moral rights impose additional obligations on website managers and others who use any material covered by copyright.
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Authors have the right to be identified correctly as authors. |
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Images must not be manipulated in a way which would damage the reputation of the author of the original image. For example, there may be legal dangers in altering photographs graphically on the internet. |
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There may also be dangers in showing privately commissioned photographs without the permission of the commissioner or the subject. |
For further legal advice on copyright or moral rights, contact a Legal Advisor.
Any site that collects personal information will need to comply with the Data Protection Act. Personal information is any information that relates to a living individual who can be identified:
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from that information; or |
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from that and other information in our possession or likely to come into our possession. |
Personal information can include:
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an e-mail address or telephone number, collected, for example, when people enter competitions, sign up for a newsletter or become part of a database of contributors |
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information about people’s personal experiences and opinions we collect for use online, on television or on radio. |
The British Council must not collect personal information from users and then pass it on to others without their consent. There are specific concerns about collecting personal information on the public service site which might be disclosed to anyone outside the British Council.
Exceptionally, any proposal to give contributors’ personal details, comments or other personal information to a third party without the contributor’s consent should be referred to Director Corporate Affairs, who may wish to consult a Legal Advisor.
In addition, personal information should not normally be accessible to other British Council departments outside the production area which has collected it. Any proposal to make an exception must first be referred to a Legal Advisor.
Sites that collect personal information must include a 'Use of Data' notice explaining every purpose for which the information will be used. See below.
Any information requested must be the minimum necessary. Think about:
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whether collecting a date of birth is really necessary – use age or age range instead |
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whether a full postcode is necessary – the first part is enough to check what region or area of the country the person lives in |
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whether a full address is necessary – for example, it may be necessary to deliver a prize or an information pack. |
Personal information should be kept only for the minimum length of time necessary and appropriate to the uses for which it has been agreed. Whilst kept, the British Council is responsible for ensuring it is stored securely, including when it is handled by an agent or partner on our behalf. A written contract between the British Council and the agent or partner must require the information to be used only for the purpose the British Council has agreed. A contract is also needed if personal information is being sent outside the European Economic Area. Once the purpose for which the information has been used has come to an end, it must be disposed of securely.
Sites that collect personal information must include a 'Use of Data' notice. This must describe all the purposes for which the information collected will be used. This includes information collected via cookies or other covert software.
If any information collected is going to be used for promotion, marketing, research or any other 'secondary purpose', the 'Use of Data' notice must give individuals the opportunity to agree to this. An 'opt-in' box must be included in the notice. This means that if the individual does tick the box, they have given permission for the 'secondary' purpose. Any commercial service that considers that an 'opt-in' box is not required must check this with the relevant lawyer.
Any notice must explain whether any information will be shared with other departments outside the production area which has collected it or disclosed to anyone outside the British Council.
We must also tell people if we use agents or contractors to deliver a service on our behalf, for example to deliver e-mail news letters or to reply to questions from users.
If the information will be sent outside the European Economic Area in connection with the British Council’s intended use, this must be explained in the notice.
The 'Use of Data' notice must be as close as possible to the 'Submit' button. It must be sufficiently prominent that the user’s attention is drawn to it and be of a font size that is readable with ease (or can be enlarged for viewing in an acceptable font size). Do not place a notice in an obscure section of the document or screen.
Any proposal to collect personal information on a British Council site which might be disclosed to third parties must be referred to Director Corporate Affairs who may wish to consult a Legal Advisor. 'Use of Data' notices must be cleared with a lawyer before putting them online. Further guidance can be obtained from a Legal Advisor.
If a site collects personal data which is intended to be used for promotion, research or any other 'secondary' use, an internal British Council registration form must be completed and submitted to the Data Protection Officer.
If a site is aimed at children and young people up to the age of 18 and you intend to collect and keep information, users must be asked to confirm that parental consent has been obtained before their details are recorded in any system. This applies equally to competitions, where it is planned to retain the data only until the result is announced.
This includes information about: ethnic or racial origin; political opinion; religious or other similar beliefs, (e.g. agnosticism, atheism); trade union membership; physical or mental health details; sexual life, (e.g. sexual orientation); or alleged or proven criminal or civil offences.
Any site proposing to collect such information needs the explicit consent of the individual concerned. This requires a more detailed and specific 'Use of Data' notice. A Legal Advisor must be consulted. Advice is also available from Corporate IT on secure collection and storage of such information.
The Data Protection Act allows people to request details of the personal information held on them by the British Council. This is a subject access request. All requests must be forwarded immediately to the Data Protection Officer. There is a time limit of 40 days for answering requests. Staff must not deal with subject access requests themselves.
Anyone has the right at any time to tell us to stop sending them marketing material, by e-mailing or writing to the British Council. We must stop sending them such material as soon as is reasonable to do so, and, in any event, within 28 days.
Anyone also has the right to request corrections of any inaccurate information held about them. Wherever possible, an ‘update details’ feature should be built into web sites to allow users to check and update for themselves any personal details previously supplied.
On any site that uses software alone to take a decision that significantly affects an individual such as to select for jobs or work experience, individuals must be told that if they are not selected they can ask for a review of that decision.
For further advice contact a Legal Advisor.
We are committed to ensuring that everyone is able to use our websites and to complying with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
We aim to use our web sites to make information accessible in a range of different formats. The British Council uses the following accessibility checklist: http://www.w3.org/WAI/guid-tech.html
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