Risk & Business

A recent copyright infringement case in the music industry has given insurance and risk professionals a cause for alarm.  The family of the late Marvin Gaye, won a verdict of 5.4 million and 50% future royalties from Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, for the song "Blurred Lines".  What is troubling about this verdict is that the award was for infringement of the "groove", and or "feel".  This is really unprecedented and could open up a slew of litigation around all types of media. Business owners using social media to promote and advertise their businesses could be held to a much higher standard when posting online. Determining that a business used the same "feel" in their advertising as another creator of content could really be a problem. Think of all the posting that is done on social media outlets that are "copy cats" of other posts. How about photographs and videos that are shared from one social media user to another? Is everyon...

Technology is changing the way the insurance industry looks at liability with auto insurance. More and more people are buying cars which practically can drive themselves. In actuality, many feel that drivers will not be needed, only riders, as cars will do the driving with no one behind the wheel. So now the question is, following an accident who is liable?  Answering this question will dictate the future of auto insurance. If drivers are no longer liable for accidents, then the insurance industry will have to charge much less for insurance. Are the car manufacturers, or technology companies that install the self driving features liable?  If this is the case then they should be charged the premium not the drivers. Does this mean that auto insurance for drivers will be dramatically reduced? I would think so. There is no doubt , auto insurance is about to be dramatically changed. Insurance companies will have to adjust their model from a consumer focus to a manufacturer or busin...

Many business owners will sign lease of premise contracts and not really know what is in the fine print. Many leases today push all the risk to the tenant. This could be problematic if the insurance policies that insure a business, who is a tenant, do not match up with the requirements in the lease. This is especially true with damage to property. Many leases today are making the tenant responsible for damage to the leased building. No longer is the responsibility relegated to their leased space only. In today's rental agreements the tenant may have to pay for damage to the total building, responsible or not. These lease provisions are usually in the indemnification clauses of the lease. The clause may state that the tenant has to indemnify the landlord for damage to the building out of activities of the tenant. The tenant may not even be responsible and still have to indemnify. The insurance policy for the tenant may not be set up to cover the total cost of damage to a landlord...