PRODUCT: Media professional liability
COMPANY: Atlantic Specialty Insurance Co. for all admitted business. In Rhode Island: OBI National Insurance Co. Homeland Insurance Co. of New York for all non-admitted business. In Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island: Homeland Insurance Co. of Delaware.
BEST RATING: A (Excellent)
AVAILABILITY: Available through appointed wholesale agents, as well as appointed specialized retail agents.
FOCUS: Nothing draws attention to the benefits of media professional liability coverage like a national scandal. After retracting an article about an alleged sexual assault in 2014, Rolling Stone magazine is facing a potential lawsuit—a prominent example of media liability that sheds light on the range of risks media firms face in today's world.
To help clients stay up to date on those risks, OneBeacon Technology Insurance has released new media liability policy forms last year—the most current in the marketplace, according to Regina Williams, assistant vice president at OneBeacon.
“We understand the added exposures that are created by the convergence of media and technology and can assist agents and brokers with those exposures,” she says. “Media liability is relevant to brokers and agents as most of their clients are probably involved in creating content and participating in social media, which increases exposure to personal injury and possibly intellectual property infringement.”
But agencies should take caution as well. Any business involved in social media “can open one up to defamation or invasion of privacy lawsuits,” Williams explains. One growing example? The misuse of photographs, which can lead to misappropriation of likeness, possible copyright infringement and invasion of privacy.
UNDERWRITING: Designed for publishers, broadcasters, advertising agencies, authors and producers, coverage is customizable for any company or individual that creates content. Policies include social networking and personal appearance coverage, along with personal and advertising injury, copyright and trademark, plagiarism, invasion of privacy, contextual errors and omissions and many other related torts.
In addition to media professional liability coverage, OneBeacon can add coverage for technology professional services and network security and privacy liability by endorsement upon qualification of coverage. The music professional liability form, designed for music artists, music producers and music publishers, is a non-admitted, claims-made and reported form. The schedule of an insured’s coverage is tailored to the insured’s exposure, and named peril and defense costs are within the limits of liability. Additional coverage features include personal and advertising injury, copyright and trademark, plagiarism, invasion of privacy and more.
Upon qualification, OneBeacon can endorse policies to include coverage for first-amendment risk, subpoena defense, professional services, broad form E&O, technology professional services and network security and privacy liability.
Except music professional liability, policy forms are occurrence-based. Defense costs are outside the limits for most classes, but the company requires including defense costs within the limits of liability for some. Coverage includes defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright, trademark, contextual E&O, defense coverage for injunctions, broad definition of insured, broad definition of loss and broad definition of occurrence.
MINIMUM PREMIUM: $1,500 for all classes except entertainment, multimedia and advertising risks: $2,500.
TARGET: Small to mid-size business with revenues less than $750 million, including: advertisers, advertising agencies, newspaper publishers, multimedia companies, book publishers, authors, magazine publishers, radio and TV broadcasters, online content and music.
COVERAGE TERRITORY: Worldwide.
CONTACT: Regina Williams, assistant vice president/underwriting manager; OneBeacon Technology Insurance, 6800 College Boulevard, Suite 350, Overland Park, KS 66211; 913-945-3040.
Ronimarie Acord is an IA contributor.
