RE: Copyright as protection against liability

[KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com]

So, I seem to be receiving the impression that, even 
as a salaried tech writer for a network security and 
encryption products company, I should go out and 
find myself some professional liability insurance 
because:

a) anybody suing my employer would naturally cast 
   the net as widely as possible, in hopes of 
   strip-mining any pocket that comes within reach or,

b) if my company was successfully sued (or even spent 
   a lot of money fending off a suit...) they might 
   in turn sue me to recover some of their costs?

Between a salaried/employee tech writer and a contract 
tech writer, should an insurer prefer (or give preferential 
rates to) the salaried one? Claims against an employee 
should be rarer and easier (less costly) to defend, 
given the reliable copyright status -- i.e., not held 
by the insured.

Off-hand, I'd bet that it isn't even an issue for 
salaried writers (the European article that started 
this discussin notwithstanding). 
But I'd be interested to know how many contractors do 
have professional liability insurance. I'd also be 
interested to know your reasons for NOT carrying such 
insurance.  
If you respond privately, I'll summarize for the list.

/kevin

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Dick Margulis [mailto:margulis -at- fiam -dot- net]

>What both Sean and Bruce are forgetting is that it really 
>doesn't matter
>whether you are liable or not. What matters is the cost of defending
>yourself if you are sued, regardless of the outcome; and the fact that
>the employer or client holds the copyright is not going to prevent
>someone from suing you if they get a notion to do so. So the 
>question is
>really whether you have any assurance that your legal bill will be paid
>by the copyright owner, and I suspect the answer is generally No.

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