As a community manager, you are responsible ensuring that the content of your community (whether user-generated or in-house) is legal.  You are the front line of defense against a potential lawsuit.

Here are some quick tips to help you address copyright issues proactively:

Have a takedown policy in place

“Takedown” in the copyright world means that when a copyright holder sends you a notice that someone in your community is infringing their copyright, you “take down” the offending content (it could be text, a photo, a video, etc.).  Generally, you should try to verify that the person complaining is the legitimate copyright holder.  For example, if the content in question is text, he/she could demonstrate where it was first published.  The most important thing is to provide, somewhere on your website, a notice of who to contact for copyright infringement complaints.  Usually, this is in the Terms of Service or Legal Notices.

Who owns user-generated content?

The best practice is to state, upfront, in the Terms of Service agreed to when a user registers on your site, that you have been granted license to display and use the content posted.  But it’s up to you to decide your policy.  Perhaps you want to allow users to retain their rights to their content, or conversely, perhaps you plan to syndicate or further use the content and you want to make that clear.  Either way, the user should be informed of the policy when they join.

Be ready for “please delete me and my content”

If you run a community, there will come a day when a member approaches you with a request to delete their membership and all of their content.  You need to have a policy in place so that you can handle it appropriately.  How you respond will depend on whether you have established your rights to the content (see above) or not.  Remember also, that in a forum environment, deleting a user’s posts may result in nonsensical topic threads, especially if it was an active member.  You may also wish to establish a 24-hour “cooling off” period, before you do a full deletion; often this request is made in the heat of the moment and might be regretted.

Attribution is important

If you use any stock photos, user-generated photos, or creative-commons licensed material, be sure to include the appropriate attribution label.  Usually the copyright holder provides a notice of how they wish to be attributed.  And don’t forget to put a copyright notice at the bottom of your own site as well!

*Note that I am not a lawyer and this is not to be construed as legal advice.  You should take advantage of your legal resources if you feel you may have a copyright problem on your website.