Question

What are the risks for nonprofits that use the copyrighted materials of other organizations? How would you manage this risk?

Answer 1

Many non profit organizations use materials, such as photographs, graphics, or other content, from third parties and found on the Internet for their promotional materials and websites. The main risk associated to this could be copyright issues and risk of infringement for using coyrighted text or images. Being a charity or nonprofit does not excuse an organization from liability for using somebody else’s work to further their cause.  

The first way to manage this risk is to prevent the organization and its employees from knowingly or unknowingly infringing third-party copyrights in order to avoid possible liability for the organization. Some ways to avoid copyright infringement include using only materials which are made available for public use on a royalty-free basis, or purchasing licenses to use others’ creative content. Another way for an organization to avoid infringement is to educate its employees about acceptable use of copyright-protected materials, perhaps including developing a copyright policy that addresses, for example, when it is permissible to copy and paste content from the internet.

A basic understanding of how copyright laws apply can help a charity or nonprofit to protect and grow its intellectual property assets. Conversely, lack of awareness of copyright issues can result in the mismanagement of potentially valuable intellectual property assets, and also increases an organization’s risk of liability to third-party copyright owners.

The other ways to manage this risk would be Procedures for vetting partners and contractors, Anti-corruption and sanctions compliance controls, Control of intellectual property and maintaining Contract terms and conditions for the jurisdiction. Consideration of copyright issues and development of strategies for the protection of copyrighted works is important for all charities and non-profits.