A case has highlighted the important and frequently litigated difference between websites produced by you and your employees and those produced by freelancers.

First, an important definition: Legal speak for the design and intangible content of a website is "Intellectual Property" - IP. In the case of IP produced by an employee, the rights to the IP (ie the website) will almost invariably rest with the employer.

The leading case on ownership of copyright in this situation, Robin Ray v Classic FM says that in order for an employer to own the copyright in an employees work there must be an element of control, irrespective of whether there was an official contract of employment.

The Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988 provides that where work is made by an employee in the course of employment, the employer is the owner of the copyright unless there is an agreement to the contrary. Therefore, if a business has a member of its own staff who produces and updates its website it should have little trouble in establishing that it owns the rights to any IP rights present. Most prudent business managers and directors will ensure that there is also a clause to the same effect in each employee's contract of employment.

However, the uncertainty where there is no formal contract of employment raises issues for businesses who have websites designed and built by third parties or freelancers.

In one case the Court ruled that the copyright in the software created by a freelancer belonged to the freelancer, although the company which commissioned the software had an exclusive licence to use it. Accordingly, this also meant that royalties were payable to the freelancer from the company under this licence!

Thus it appears that the normal situation in the case of freelancers is that copyright is owned by them as the author, even in the case of works commissioned by another. So if a business commissions a freelancer or another business to create its website, then in the absence of a specific contractual arrangement to the contrary, the courts will normally conclude that the IP rights in that website belong to the freelancer or commissioned business and as such the company will not only be unable to use its website as it wishes but will also be liable to pay royalties or a licence fee to use it.

Of course protection in this area is easily obtained by having a comprehensive and well drafted agreement drawn up to ensure that all matters with regard to ownership of IP rights are dealt with clearly.

Another issue that may concern businesses with websites is 'cyber-squatting'. This is a fairly well publicised issue which impacts on another branch of IP law, namely Trade Marks, but many businesses are still not alive to the dangers it presents them with or how to effectively guard against it.

Essentially, cyber-squatting involves a third party registering a domain name e.g. marksandspencer.com and then attempting to sell it back to the company. By registering such a domain name this prevents the business with a legitimate interest in the name from using it and secondly, and more importantly, can cause an inconceivable amount of damage to the reputation and goodwill of the business. Thus out of fear of such damage occurring, many businesses have handed over large sums of money in return for the registration of a domain name being transferred to them by an unscrupulous registrant.

However, businesses can protect themselves from these website wheeler dealers and a few pounds spent on protection can save thousands spent on a cure. By registering the business name or mark as a trademark then those inclined to register domain names for this purpose might be caused to think again. To breach a registered trademark would allow for the business in question to take swift legal action against such an individual and to prevent any damage to its reputation as quickly as possible.

If the business does not register a trademark, it may attempt to use the tort of 'passing off' to protect itself.

The leading case on this point, British Telecommunications plc and others v One in a Million Limited involved BT, Marks and Spencer's, Virgin, Ladbrokes and Sainsbury's all suing One in a Million for registering several domain names based on the company names, with the intention of selling them either to the companies for profit, or to a third party who would then exploit the website for their own business. The court in this case ruled that this exploitation was unfair and detrimental to the companies who had spent time and money building up their business and associated goodwill and reputation.

However, there are several tests to establish that passing-off has occurred, which are not always easy to satisfy. There must be goodwill established by the victim company, misrepresentation by the cyber-squatter so as to confuse the public, and most importantly present or future loss by the victim company. This is an expensive course of action to take and by the time such action is concluded then irreparable damage might already have been done.

All of which shows that it pays for business owners to be worldly wise about the web. My advice is to get an expert lawyer to review your set up and to give you help and assistance, as necessary.

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And the power we mostly rely on is based on fossil fuels - non-renewable resources that are running out. The early signs of higher costs, and of increasing Government Regulations, are just the local symptoms of this. There are no encouraging signs of a reverse in this trend - but there is a lot of ignoring of the problems now, and of the future consequences.

Transition Brighton & Hove is presenting information to increase awareness of the scale and immediacy of this problem, by holding talks on the evening of 17th April at Brighthelm Centre, 7 for 7.30 pm till 10
by Jeremy Leggett - author of Carbon War and Half Gone, and Chair of Solar Century on "Why we need to act ahead of the Peak in Oil Production" and by Jim Watson, Director of the Sussex Energy Group on "Options for Generating Energy Locally".

These are the first in a series of talks on Energy and Resources for the Transition towards a Sustainable Future, organised by Transition Brighton and Hove.

For more information go to: www.transitionbrightonandhove.org.uk

Tickets cost £3 (or £2 concessions) at Dome Box Office: Call 01273 709709 or go to: www.brightonticketshop.com