Media Liability Insurance Coverage, Cost & Quotes From $11

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Professionals and businesses involved in content creation and communication sometimes make mistakes. For example, a publisher can be sued for copyright infringement. A reader can sue a writer for providing incorrect information or creating a highly offensive work. Printing companies aren’t exempt as they can be liable for using photos of people for a book cover without permission.

If someone sues you for an advertising campaign, social media post, or website post, your multimedia liability insurance can cover legal fees and settlement costs. Stay and learn how the policy works, how much it costs, and where to get the best coverage.

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 

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:

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: