A Dentist’s Guide to the Law. American Dental Association

      47. When Do I Need Permission to Use What’s Not Mine On My Website?

      The first thing new website owners often do is to register an Internet address or “domain name.” Securing the name is often easy to do for a small fee, but you must first make sure your domain name does not infringe on a third party’s trademark rights.

      When it comes to using third party material on your website, make sure you get appropriate permissions, including permission of the copyright owner for third party content you may wish to post, and even permission of the “subjects” (including staff or patient photos) for photographs you may wish to display. If you are linking to other websites, get permission before using the other sites’ logos, or use a simple text link instead. Avoid “framing” another site without permission. Otherwise, you may be making it appear that the site framed within your site contains your content. As an example, “framing” the ADA site is specifically prohibited, though linking is permitted so long as the links only reference permitted ADA member logos and do not otherwise use the ADA trademarks or service marks.

      Copyrights and Social Media

      At times, copyright law has had difficulty keeping up with the explosive developments of the Internet. For example, the law wrestled for some time with the question of whether patents or copyright should be used to protect computer software programs. The answer is that, based on the circumstances, either one may apply. There are those who have argued that in the wide-open environment of the Web such intellectual property concepts are outmoded. It is so easy to download from or upload to the Internet, and there is so much content freely circulated on it that many people have been lulled into the false sense that if content can be accessed from their computers, then it is there for the taking and sharing.

      Copyright law applies to Internet content pretty much the same way it applies to written content, music, radio and television broadcasts, photos, and any of the other sorts of works covered by the copyright statute. When you post an article, photo, or video clip on your Facebook page, your blog or your website, you are potentially publishing it to a large audience, including to third parties unknown to you. That is a qualitatively and quantitatively different act from copying an article putting it in an envelope along with a letter to a friend or loved one.