Media Liability Insurance
Coverage for claims arising from media content including defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, and advertising injury.
What It Is
Media Liability Insurance covers claims arising from the creation, publication, or distribution of media content. Covered claims include defamation (libel and slander), invasion of privacy, copyright and trademark infringement, plagiarism, and misappropriation of ideas.
This coverage goes significantly beyond the personal and advertising injury coverage in a standard CGL policy, which provides limited protection for advertising-related offenses. Media liability policies are designed for publishers, broadcasters, advertising agencies, public relations firms, digital media companies, and any organization that produces significant content.
Media liability policies may be written as standalone policies or combined with cyber liability coverage, as digital media operations increasingly face both content liability and cyber risk.
Why It Matters for Brokers
In the digital age, more businesses create and publish content than ever before. Social media, company blogs, podcasts, and video content all create potential media liability exposure. Brokers should evaluate media liability needs for any client with significant content creation activities. The personal and advertising injury coverage in the CGL policy has numerous exclusions and limitations that make it inadequate for clients with significant media exposure. A standalone media liability policy provides the comprehensive protection these clients need.
Real-World Example
A digital marketing agency creates advertising content for 30 clients across social media, web, print, and video channels. A competing company sues the agency for copyright infringement, alleging that a social media campaign used images licensed exclusively to the competitor. The media liability policy covers $175,000 in defense costs and a $50,000 settlement. The CGL personal and advertising injury coverage would have excluded this claim under its intellectual property exclusion.
Common Mistakes
- 1Assuming the CGL personal and advertising injury coverage is adequate for clients with significant content creation and publishing activities.
- 2Not recommending media liability to digital marketing agencies, PR firms, and social media-heavy businesses that create content for clients.
- 3Failing to include cyber coverage alongside media liability when the client publishes content digitally and faces both types of exposure.
How brokerageaudit.com Handles This
Policy Checker identifies accounts with significant content creation or publishing activities and verifies that media liability coverage extends beyond the limited CGL personal and advertising injury protection.