Intellectual Property Law

Changing the subject: Canadian ISP alters web pages

David Harris's Briefblog brings news of Rogers, a Canadian ISP, adding content to the pages of its customers. According to David, at the moment Rogers is only doing this to the pages of customers who it wants to notify about issues with account status such as exceeding usage limit.

David goes on to discuss the copyright/licensing implications of Rogers' actions. David's view - which is difficult to fault - web pages are normally protected by copyright, and the copyright owners are unlikely to have given Rogers permission (express or implied) to alter their pages. This means that, in altering web pages, Rogers is likely to be infringing the copyright in those pages. David comments:

"In the current case of adding subscriber information to the page the subscriber himself requested it is unlikely to damage the interests of the copyright owner. However if Rogers removes or downgrades video files it certainly will damage the interests of the copyright owner. Not only that, but it is likely that the addition of this content will puzzle and annoy the end user who may well assume the copyright owner has done something weird. That will damage the reputation and goodwill of the site owner and lead to the risk of a claim against the ISP for damages for passing off."

Full post as published by IMPACT on December 18, 2007 (boomark / email).