What is Media Liability Insurance?

Media liability coverage is a specially written type of media insurance E&O coverage designed for media professionals. Media professionals are highly exposed to lawsuits as published works can be easily checked by someone and reported to concerned parties.

Typically written on a claims-made basis, media liability provides financial coverage in situations such as:

Defamation - You've made an editorial article about a public figure and are accused of including defamatory remarks in your writeup
Copyright infringement - You're running an advertising agency and are accused of copying some elements of another agency's advertisement
Plagiarism - You're a blogger and are accused by another blogger of copying a travel blog post he or she published a few years ago

So long as you're a media professional - whether a blogger, advertising agency, digital marketing company, social media influencer, or news publisher - a time will come when you'll need to purchase media professionals insurance. Some of these policies are specific to the media expert. For instance, an influencer will require social media liability insurance, while a blogger will need electronic media liability insurance.

While you might have the right media perils insurance, alleviating negligence to avoid claims is your best defense. The last thing you want is to be the defendant in a legal process because of copyright or defamation. It’s best to establish a comprehensive approach for all your media. Let your employees understand media guidelines to avoid trouble.

Media Professional Liability Insurance

Media professional liability insurance is a coverage designed for media experts who create and publish content; or offer media consultancy. The coverage provides comprehensive protection against claims that result from violation of good faith, misrepresentation, or inaccurate advice.

Media professional indemnity insurance is sometimes packaged with commercial general liability (CGL) coverage, which protects media experts and organizations from false advertising or advertising injury lawsuits.

So how is CGL for media professionals different? In the media space, CGL doesn’t cater to situations where there’s negligence, violation of good faith, misrepresentation, or inaccurate advice. It only caters to claims associated with false advertising and other types of reputational harm.

But note that CGL and professional liability are the same in terms of what they pay for. Like CGL, media professional liability insurance covers the following:

Legal fees - This includes payments to witnesses, lawyer fees, and other costs for court proceedings
Compensatory payments in case the third - party wins the case

Media Liability Cyber Insurance

An advertising, publishing, or broadcasting agency has a complex cybersecurity system. But the more thorough they mitigate cyber threats, the more sophisticated the attacks. A data breach can be costly, especially if you store credit card details and other confidential consumer information. That's why you need cyber media liability insurance.

The insurance pays for any legal fees and prevents business losses arising from:

Man-in-The-Middle (MITM) attacks - A hacker gains access to the website and acts as one of the representatives of your company to get hold of client data
Phishing - Someone in your company received an email containing a link, which when clicked, allows the hacker to gain access to sensitive data stored in your database
Data breaches - A hacker gained access to your database completely then stole and erased sensitive data in your care

The table below shows how much damage MITM, phishing, and data breach can do:

	Cost of Damage
MITM	$83,000 - $121,000
Phishing	$1.8 million (according to a data in 2015)
Data Breach	$4.24 million

Understand that media liability cyber insurance won't provide coverage if ever your business needs to take a halt to contain the cyber attack. This problem falls on the shoulder of business interruption insurance. Business interruption insurance provides an allowance that helps you recover losses and pay for payroll, rent, and other related costs while the business operation is paused.

Note that cyber liability insurance can be classified into two types: first-party cyber liability coverage and third-party cyber liability coverage.

First-Party Cyber Liability Coverage

The first-party cyber media liability insurance covers cyber-attacks within the policyholder's organization. The policy covers costs related to:

Credit monitoring - Helps you pay for costs if you need to hire finance professionals to help track what you’ve lost during the breach
Customer notifications - Helps pay costs if you need to hire another company to help you notify customers about the breach

Third-Party Cyber Media Liability Insurance

The third-party media liability cyber coverage is designed for businesses that store sensitive client data. If a client's information is breached and they file a claim against you, the insurance can cater to:

Legal costs - Helps pay for lawyer fees, payments to witnesses, and other costs if a concerned stakeholder files a claim against your business due to the breach
Compensation fee - In case you lose the lawsuit, the policy will help you pay the amount the aggrieved party wants you to pay

Media E&O Insurance

Errors and omissions (E&O) coverage is written to protect media companies from client claims due to unsatisfactory work. A simple mistake by a media or advertising agency can send the business into a financial plunge. It's critical to budget for E&O coverage as it takes care of the legal expenses related to professional misconduct.

Typically, media errors and omissions insurance covers the following:

Mistakes and oversights
Advertising damages, such as slander and libel
Missed deadlines

Media Liability Insurance for Authors

Liability exposure and risk of legal action are some concerns that professional writers must consider. They must know where these risks stem from and avoid legal implications and related costs. Professional writers are often exposed to four main risks:

Defamation - As an author, you unintentionally offended a particular person, a specific group of people, or an organization with the statements you’ve made in your book or novel
Copyright infringement - You’re accused of copying the theme of another person’s book or novel
Plagiarism - You’re an author of a research paper and are accused of using another person’s findings without proper attribution

Here's a table that shows how much authors pay if ever they get involved in defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism:

	Cost
Copyright infringement	$850 - $4,000 per infringement
Defamation	$7,000 (legal fees only)
Plagiarism	$110 - $3,421

While a publisher's liability insurance may cover most of the costs related to lawsuits and settlement of damages, a publisher may require an author to compensate them for the deductible, which can reach six figures. Obtaining media liability for authors protects you from work-related risks and publishers' reimbursement, giving you peace of mind in the event of a third-party claim.

Copyright Infringement Insurance

Copyright infringement insurance is meant to cover media professionals, such as advertisers, for unintentionally copying another company's or brand's creative content when promoting their business. A trademark infringement coverage policy is usually part of CGL insurance, providing financial cushioning when another party takes legal action against you for unwillingly using their intellectual property (brand name or logo) to further your business interests.

Nonetheless, it's worth noting that trademark infringement insurance does not cover intentional acts of infringement. The breach of copyright must be accidental. Additionally, this insurance policy doesn't cover patent infringement. The extent of protection depends on the details outlined in your CGL coverage's advertising injury clause.

Media Liability Insurance Cost

There's no standard price for media liability insurance because many factors come into play. Examples include your company's location, level of risk, and the type of sector you operate in.

Many media and advertising agencies pay $35 in monthly premiums or $415 per year. Media liability insurance p olicy limits typically range from $500,000 to $1,000,000. A $500,000 custom limit is already enough.

However, as your business grows, it would be best to consider increasing your limit. There are carriers that offer a $100 million policy limit, especially to large businesses in the media industry.

So that you understand more about the cost of media liability insurance, we’ve made this table showing the pricing of the carriers offering the best coverage:

	Cost per Month	Cost per Year	Best for
CoverWallet	$34	$408	Media liability insurance quotes comparison online
Thimble	$40	$480	Short-term media professionals insurance by the hour, day, week, or month
Hiscox	$54	$648	Media liability insurance underwritten by a company with a considerable experience
Chubb	$56	$672	High-net-worth media companies

Best Media Liability Insurance Companies

When purchasing insurance, media professionals have a wide range of options when it comes to media liability insurance carriers. The primary concern is identifying the best insurance company that can tailor its policies to meet your specific needs. Below are four top media liability insurance providers.

CoverWallet Media Liability Insurance

Pros

Provides free quotes
Easy to use
All policies are well-organized in one location
Huge discounts on online purchases

Cons

Not an insurance carrier, but a broker selling the media liability quotes of its partners

An AON subsidiary, CoverWallet uses modern technology to help media professionals understand and purchase liability insurance and conveniently manage their insurance plans while making significant savings through its online platform. The company offers professional liability, general liability, commercial liability, and tailored plans to meet a media representative's needs.

CoverWallet provides clients with MyCoverWallet Dashboard to help with policy management. With it, the company streamlines your claims filing processes and provides step-by-step guidance if need be.

Best for : Media liability insurance quotes comparison online

Average cost : $34 per month

Our rating: 10/10

Thimble Media Liability Insurance

Pros

Cheap short-term media liability coverage for independent and freelance media professionals
Media liability can automatically included general liability and professional liability

Cons

Media liability excludes breach of contract

Thimble offers media liability insurance policy for journalists, bloggers, publishers, marketers, and influencers. Coverage isn’t only for those employed but also for independent professionals and freelancers. Moreover, Thimble’s media liability insurance application isn’t complex. All that the customer has to do is provide details and coverage will be granted quickly.

Best for: Short-term media professionals insurance by the hour, day, week, or month

Average cost: $40 per month

Our rating: 9/10

Hiscox Media Liability Insurance

Pros

Quick access to online quotes and policies
Clients can purchase insurance policies throughout the US
Online claims filing

Cons

Lacks BBB accreditation
Mixed customer feedback

Hiscox is a nationally acclaimed specialty insurance company. It boasts a portfolio of 12+ insurance products, including media liability insurance, E&O, entertainment production risks, cyber & data security, and general liability coverage. The company is part of Hiscox Group, a company with 100+ year tenure in the insurance sector, and clients are guaranteed to get quality coverage.

Best for: Media liability insurance underwritten by a company with a considerable experience

Average cost : $54 per month

Our rating: 8/10

Chubb Media Liability Insurance

Pros

Generous coverage and benefits for high-end clients
Few customer complaints

Cons

Reduced focus on cheap insurance

Chubb is an excellent carrier if you're a media professional who doesn't mind paying a high amount for media liability insurance coverage for excellent service. Established in 1882, the company has expanded its insurance products to cover virtually every risk media professionals face.

They include "All Risk " coverage for protection against specified perils, built-in coverage for advertising, negligent publication coverage, punitive damages coverage, internet liability, etc.

With Chubb, media professionals can access coverage for creations and acquisitions lasting 90 days with the option to extend their coverage.

Best for : High net worth media companies

Average cost : $56 per month

Our rating : 8/10

Do Vloggers Need Media Liability Insurance?

Those making money through Youtube, Tiktok, and Facebook by posting videos can benefit greatly from media liability insurance. If you’re a vlogger, know that this policy will help you pay for costs if ever someone accuses you of copying their work or using information that came from someone without any attributions.

Do I Need Media Liability and General Liability Insurance if I’m Just a Small Time Blogger Working from Home?

The quick answer is no. You only need to get media liability insurance to have protection. However, if you want more protection, then we recommend you get general liability insurance too. But understand that for it to be useful, you need to include advertising injury coverage.

Check Offers and Pricing, Compare Media Liability Insurance Quotes Online

What’s covered and not covered by media liability differs from carrier to carrier. The same is true for how much insurance money you’ll get. Be a smart buyer. Get the best coverage by comparing quotes. To compare media liability insurance quotes, click the "Get Quotes " button on this page and instantly get the offers and the corresponding estimated premiums of top insurance carriers.