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Paypal Policy Update - intellectual property and surcharges

26/8/2016

For those using Paypal as a method for customers to pay for your art...

Have you read the Policy UpDate published this month by PayPal? If not you might like to take time out to do so. There are two important paragraphs

The first relates to their use of the intellectual property of your business i.e. their use of your brands and logos. It applies to relates to all businesses (e.g. your art business) which use PayPal. I'm guessing that they want this right to use brandnames and logos for marketing purposes.

The new paragraph at section 1.3 reads as follows: “You grant the PayPal Group the worldwide right to use and depict your business name, trademarks and logos on our website and in our mobile and web applications for the purpose of displaying information about your business and its products and services.”

The second is a requirement that you neither disparage PayPal nor use surcharges in excess of those relating to other forms of payment.

Note in particular the last sentences of the second and last paragraphs - which I've highlighted in bold! I can only think there has been a legal case which now means they need to highlight that they're not going to be liable for anything which is a criminal offence!

The issue for you is do you know how to avoid committing a criminal offence?

2. Non discouragement
We are amending section 4.4 (Non discouragement) to outline the standards that businesses must adopt at their points of sale in respect of their customers’ use of PayPal. Section 4.4 now reads as follows (with added/amended wording underlined):

“4.4 Non discouragement. In representations to your customers or in public communications, you shall not mischaracterise or disparage PayPal as a payment method.

At all of your points of sale (in whatever form):
a. you shall not dissuade or inhibit your customers from using PayPal; and
b. if you enable your customers to pay you with PayPal, you shall treat PayPal’s payment mark at least at par with other payment methods offered.

PayPal does not encourage surcharging because it is a commercial practice that can penalise the consumer and create unnecessary confusion, friction and abandonment at checkout. You agree that you will only surcharge for the use of PayPal in compliance with any law applicable to you and not in excess of the surcharges that you apply for the use of other payment methods. You further agree that if you do surcharge a buyer, you, and not PayPal, will inform the buyer of the requested charge. PayPal has no liability to any buyer where you have failed to inform the buyer of any surcharge. You acknowledge that you could be committing a criminal offence if you fail to disclose any form of surcharge to a buyer.”

There are also several amendments to the several amendments to the PayPal Buyer Protection policy

You can download PDF version of the Policy Update.

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Do you have to have insurance to run an art class?

8/8/2016

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The short answer is "Yes" - insurance is needed for an art class because the public are involved.

ARTIST RUN WORKSHOPS AND ART CLASSES
- 3rd party public liability insurance cover for host premises (check whether this is included in the rental or not)
- 3rd party public liability for students in art workshops you're running
Insurance for Art and Artists

The reason is because if you are running a commercial activity involving the public you owe them a duty of care as a third party. In other words if somebody has an accident or does something really stupid/hazardous while in your class and/or using equipment or materials under your instruction and/or on your premises then the person they are going to sue for damages - under public liability - is YOU!

Public liability insurance protects an artist from legal claims if someone is injured as a result of their professional activities.
a-n

The next question is WHO needs to have the insurance.

In general, if you are teaching in an educational establishment - like an art school or a gallery providing workshops - then the venue will have (or SHOULD have!) an insurance policy which covers all its legal public liabilities including third party cover.

Consequently if you are employed by the school you probably have nothing to worry about so long as you

conform to all rules and regulations relating to professional practice / health and safety - and
make sure your students do the same

However if your conduct falls short and you break the rules or encourage your students in risky behaviour you may well find that you are not covered and you're on your own!

However if you work on a contracted basis for a fee you might want to check whether you are covered by their insurance or not

If you run your own classes then you very definitely need cover. You should also check personally on the third party public liability cover and status of any venues you use. Particularly if there are any hazards or risks associated with any materials or equipment being used.

To find out about the many and varied reasons artists need insurance take a look at

my webpage on the topic Insurance for Art and Artists.
A-n | Get covered: why artists need to have insurance and how a-n can help
UK Craft Fairs | Organising and running arts and crafts events

Students in one of my workshops at the Mall Galleries. The Galleries hosted the event and provided the equipment - and they carry the public liability cover.

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3 solutions for a 1* Facebook Review that undermines your organisation

2/8/2016

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Is it fair for Facebook to allow somebody to give a 1* review rating to an arts organisation - like an art society - when that individual has based their assessment on 3rd party comments by other people made some time ago? I've seen this happen on the Facebook Page of an art society.

How to tackle a 1* Facebook Review

People can review and rate a local business organisation.

ratings can be from 1* to 5* and contribute to an overall rating which shows on the Facebook Page
ratings can be left without a review but a review cannot be published without a rating.

There are three things an art organisation can do to respond to bad review given by somebody who has no personal knowledge of your organisation.

Change the category of your Facebook Page
Report the review for failing to follow Facebook's Guidelines
Identify the issue to your supporters - this always comes last and should only ever be employed if the first two fail to tackle the issue.

#1 SOLUTION: Change your category

There's no limit to the number of times that you can change the category of your Page.

The first thing you need to do is think very seriously about the category your organisation falls into.

If your arts organisation or society has the status of a "Local Business" on facebook this then permits reviews. Your organisation might want to think twice about the category given that

people can provide reviews without any personal knowledge of you (i.e. it's up to you to prove to facebook that they have no knowledge of you - which might not be easy!)
your organisation CANNOT DELETE those reviews (and you also risk getting a lot of spam left in the reviews section - never mind negative reviews!)
if not many people review you the negative reviews linger long on your Facebook Page - and affect its overall rating.

So - ask yourself the questions:

Does your arts organisation really need to have the category of a "Local Business"?
Might the category of "companies and organisations" be more appropriate?

Personally I don't think "business" is the right category for an organisation like an art society unless that organisation knows it can generate lots of positive and spontaneous reviews.

Next you need to change the category.

How do I change my Page's category? is a Facebook Help Page which tells you how you can change the category for your arts organisation.
Look at the table below - from What features are available based on my Page's category? - to see which features you want. Note that ONLY "Local Businesses" have the ratings and reviews feature.

#2 SOLUTION: Report the review

Note that Facebook does not moderate reviews UNLESS they are reported.

You can report a review if it doesn't follow and comply with the Facebook Guidelines for Reviews. So you need to report a Review that is clearly not based on personal experience.

This is what the Guidelines for ratings and reviews has to say.

Ratings and reviews must follow the Facebook Community Standards, focus on the product or service offered by the Page and be based on personal experience. Reviews that don't follow these guidelines may be removed.

What are the guidelines for ratings and reviews?

#3 SOLUTION: Identify the issue to your supporters

For me this last option should only ever be implemented as a response if both the other solutions have failed to address the issue, That said, if your organisation has opted for reviews then you need to make sure that those who are positive about you can leave a review!

The only thing that changes the impact of a negative review on the overall rating is lots of more positive reviews.

Anyone logged into Facebook can post ratings and reviews. People can post a rating without including a review, but you can't post a review without a rating.

You can identify the opportunity to leave ratings and reviews to your supporters. For example:

members of an art society are entitled to talk about their experience as a member
visitors to an exhibition might like to comment on whether they enjoyed it or not

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Art Business Info: NEWS

Paypal Policy Update - intellectual property and surcharges

Do you have to have insurance to run an art class?

3 solutions for a 1* Facebook Review that undermines your organisation

How to tackle a 1* Facebook Review

#1 SOLUTION: Change your category

#2 SOLUTION: Report the review

#3 SOLUTION: Identify the issue to your supporters

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Visitors so far

Author

Archives

Categories

Art Business Info: NEWS

Paypal Policy Update - intellectual property and surcharges

Do you have to have insurance to run an art class?

3 solutions for a 1* Facebook Review that undermines your organisation

How to tackle a 1* Facebook Review​

#1 SOLUTION: Change your category​

#2 SOLUTION: Report the review

​#3 SOLUTION: Identify the issue to your supporters​

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Visitors so far

Author

Archives

Categories

How to tackle a 1* Facebook Review

#1 SOLUTION: Change your category

#3 SOLUTION: Identify the issue to your supporters