Environment analysis
Legal requirements
Legal requirements for an information product include risks and hazards associated with the product, product safety, instructions for use, and regulatory compliance. These legal requirements and obligations for placing products on the market are only partially derived directly from statutory provisions. Court rulings continue to play a significant role. The legal requirements for information products are based on the legal requirements for product quality and are often referred to as "instruction obligations." As a result of the analysis, all legal requirements applicable to an information product are identified and documented. These requirements are further detailed during the concept development phase.
Risks and dangers of the product
- Risk assessment
- Legal significance of the risk assessment
- Types of risks and hazard classes (hazard levels)
- Planning and carrying out a risk assessment
Product safety
- Basics of product safety
- Basics of product safety law
- Characteristics of safe and unsafe products
- Regulations on safety requirements
- Requirements for information products due to product safety law
- Manufacturer obligations for product monitoring
- Organization and operation of market observation (e.g. at European level)
- Methods to achieve or increase product safety (e.g. design measures, safety devices, safety and warning notices)
Duty to instruct
- Requirements based on the duty to instruct: provisions on which types of information products must be supplied and according to which specifications (e.g. product safety law, EC Machinery Directive)
- Documentation obligations due to legal requirements (laws and guidelines)
- Implementation options for documentation obligations
Legal consequences
- Principles of contractual liability
- Main features of statutory product liability
- Liability in the field of technical communication (e.g. personal and corporate liability)
- Content requirements in product liability for information products
- Formal requirements in product liability for information products
- Possible legal consequences due to inadequate information products
- Transposition of supranational law (e.g. EU directives) into national law; significance for product liability
Copyright and right of use
- Basics of copyright law and the right of use (license law)
- Relevance of copyright and usage rights in technical communication
- Potential terms of use
- Copyright for sources and requirements for the legally compliant use of sources (e.g. images, texts, software licenses)
- Use of copyrighted material (e.g. software, images)
- Legal situation when using open source
Data protection
- Basics of data protection and data security (e.g. GDPR, secure storage, data protection agreements, deletion of personal data)
- Relevance of data protection for technical communication
Product compliance
- Basics of product compliance
- Declarations of conformity in information products
- Allocation of tasks and roles with regard to ensuring product compliance
- Technical communication requirements for product compliance and placing products on the market
Legal research
- Basics of legal research
- Relevant legislation for the field of technical communication
- Public sources of information and supply as well as information portals
Data and IT security
- Data and IT security with regard to the content of the information product
- Data and IT security in the creation process
- Data and IT security with regard to the provision of the information product
- Data and IT security with regard to the storage of personal data [DSGV]
Legal requirements for document management
- Archiving of information products
- Revision security
- Retention periods
- Storage locations
- Consequences and liability for inadequate document management