Information obtained via the Internet may be covered by copyright law which must be observed.

• The organisation is open to litigation if data you hold or use in your system is copyrighted by a third party.

• Ensure copyrighted data is not used without the permission of the copyright.
• If you wish to share the contents of a useful Web page for business purposes with your colleagues, describe the page and tell them the URL address of the Web site so they can look it up themselves.
• Ensure that all copyrighted items you use are properly paid for. Make appropriate enquiries on the site.
• Ensure you follow the doctrine of fair use which preserves your right to reproduce works or portions of works for certain purposes, notably education, analysis and criticism, parody, research and journalistic reporting.
• Ensure that you do not copy copyrighted information.

• The organisation may lose the use of information copyrighted by a third party.

• Ensure that all data you use in your decision-making systems is legally yours.