My Website...again.

I have discussed this before, but I have a website (which is still very much under construction, moreso due to Weebly (the host site) being a pain to use.  Really, I can spend half an hour setting up certain tabs or photo pages and 80% of the time it erases all the work I did when I click the 'Publish and Save' button.

But anyways, as with any website, there are various legal ramifications one has to consider when setting up a website, be it through Weebly or elsewhere.  

For example; photographs.  Some professional photographers do not allow people to upload photos taken by them to their Facebook/websites.  I was lucky, as there aren't many photos of me on the internet, and I only ever take photos from my own phone or my Facebook page, meaning they're allowed to be used anyways.  If I was to have a professional photographer take photos of me playing at a gig, for instance, the chances are I would have to ask his permission/buy the photo before being able to publicly put it on my website.  Normally for Facebook, no charges apply, but I did my research and discovered that since this website of mines promotes business, I'd be using his photo for potential financial gain, meaning I'd have to pay him and have his or her permission to use it for my site.
Another thing to take into consideration when hosting photos online is that if there are others in a photo you uploaded, who did not consent to having their photo online, they can seek legal action against you. This means either getting permission from anyone who may be in the photograph, gambling that they 'won't see it or care' or not putting it up at all.  Depending on the circumstance, though, some thing are more lenient than others.  For example, if you're at a gig and someone asks you for a photo with them, there is a very small chance that they will mind you posting a picture online.
Similar to pictures is information.  If a fan wants a photo of you with them, and you put the caption to the online photo to be "Samantha - Age 18, Galashiels" that is a breach of privacy.  Information like that being put up without Samantha's consent can get any website host/designer in trouble - it makes it easy for possible predators to locate her.  A legal rule of the internet is that you, a third party, cannot openly share the personal information of others with the general public.  That is why Facebook doesn't let you export your friends list to other people.

There are actually no videos of me online, so I didn't have to worry about videos, which unless taken from Youtube, have stricter restrictions on websites than photos (for example, you can't upload videos to Weebly unless you have a paid account; this is for legal reasons).  

Perhaps the most obvious thing to take into consideration is copyright of music and/or website names.  A website with a name too similar to one that already exists is subject to legal action of the original website and it's lawyers.  And if you host music on your website that isn't yours, without contacting the Copyright holder, there is a high possibility that legal action may be taken on you.  Especially if you claim that the music is yours, when it isn't.  

Many people create fan sites, or include fan site work in their own websites. Most of those are actually illegal.  Calling yourself someone else online is again, punishable by law.  It's just not often you hear about people getting prosecuted for it, because "everyone" does it.

The website can be found here;

jhopemusician@weebly.com

As I said, I make changes to it often, but Weebly doesn't seem to like me.

Resources;


http://www.brightlabs.com.au/page/Web-Design-Blog/Social_Media_and_Legal_Implications/


News Scientist, 2011 issue.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19284_5-seemingly-innocent-ways-you-risk-your-identity-every-day.html


http://www.cracked.com/article_19450_6-laws-youve-broken-without-even-realizing-it.html