There is a great moment in Spiderman where Peter Parker’s stepdad tells him “with great power, comes great responsibility”. Comic books (or graphic novels for those who are old enough to know better and young enough to still read them) have a way of boiling truths down to their essence and this is no exception.
SEO has become the social drug of choice for the web-connected presence and as online business of every kind begins to turn to SEO firms or SEO practices in order to maximise their web presence, inevitably, there will be moments where money and responsibility will clash. Or rather what will clash is the need to turn a profit against the need to do so by trading responsibly.
In what is a landmark ruling the US District Court for South Carolina ordered Bright Builders, an SEO and web hosting company to pay more than three quarters of a million dollars in damages when they were found guilty of promoting a website called CopyCatClubs.com which knowingly sold golf clubs infringing the trademark of Cleveland Golf, which manufactures golf clubs and is part of Srixon, a subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries.
The presiding judge, Margaret B. Seymour, found against both the website owner and the SEO company stating that as the latter were responsible for the active marketing of the former’s products they could no longer claim ignorance as to the illegal nature of the merchandise they were promoting with their search engine optimisation activities.
The CopyCatClubs.com website has since been closed down. The ruling is a little unusual as traditionally web hosting companies are seen as ‘carriers’ rather than direct executors of content and are therefore not responsible for the content of their clients’ websites, though they do have to operate within certain enforceable guidelines.
In this particular case what made the difference was that Bright Builders were also the SEO company of the counterfeit goods website which removed any immunity they might have claimed. Although this is not a case which is likely to be repeated too often it is a cautionary tale for SEO companies and individuals alike. The power to market goods and services online, across borders and jurisdictions has to come with some self-exercised responsibility where the goods and services being marketed are, themselves, legal and do not infringe trademarks and intellectual property rights.
Spidey’s motto, still applies!
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