Guest post by Charles Borromeo
Blogging has really become popular in the business world. There was a time when blogs were considered as an online diary, but certainly not now. However, this increase in the amount of bloggers has also given rise to increasing blogging legal issues. In this article we will take a look at the legal issues that may affect bloggers and how you can protect yourself.
Disclosure Policy
In the past, you could just hide an affiliate link in your content without anyone really paying attention but things have changed since December 2009 when the blog disclosure policy came into effect. This is why nowadays you should make sure that you disclose any relationships that you have with any products or services that you are promoting.
Therefore if you regularly review products and services it might be a good idea that you create disclosure policy page on your blog if you want to stay on the safe side.
Copyright infringement
Bloggers should also be careful when it comes to dealing with copyrighted materials. Just because something is on the internet does not mean that you can freely copy it. Most of time websites have a clear policy when it comes to copying their content and it might be important that you follow these guidelines. Failing to do so may leave you exposed to lawsuits.
This also applies to images that very often bloggers like to copy or worst hotlink. Before posting something on your blog make sure that you have the rights to do so and make sure that you upload the images to your own server.
Defamation
One of the most common issues that may give rise to lawsuit is the one regarding defamation. Indeed bloggers often find themselves publishing information that they haven’t taken time to check whether it is true or not. In most cases bloggers are more concerned about getting the most traffic and will mean posting information as soon as it arrives.
Whatever information you post on your site you should make sure that you have enough proof to back it.
Corporate Blogging
Nowadays a lot of companies are making use of blogging as a viable marketing tool to help promote their products and services. Most of the issues that are applicable to individual bloggers such as defamation and invasion of privacy are also applicable to corporate blogs and it is important that you pay special attention to this.
For this reason you should make sure that appropriate training is given to the employees that are responsible for the blogs in order to protect you from some potential lawsuit.
Charles Borromeo is the writer behind Justice-Explained.com, a site devoted to explaining legal questions in layman’s terms. He is also a passionate blogger during his free time.
About Guest Author
Twitter: raphnexx
says:
Great summary! I am writing about a highly sensitive topic today and this is one I need-a guide.
raphnexx recently posted..Article for Freelance SEO and SEO Service Provider
great blog, wouldnt it be nice to have an internet police or a reliable tracker that could really impose internet rules so that there would be less violations and then us bloggers could express their thoughts and ideas easier with each other
jubilee debt recently posted..Billions for the Bankers 3: Money as Debt
I do appreciate your work here. Do you know of any examples in each case, which will help prove your point?
Violation of those legal issues has been rampant. When will internet have a police or a reliable tracker that could really impose internet rules so that there will be less violations and a sounder group of bloggers could express their thoughts and ideas. Thank you for sharing those violations so that a lot will become more aware and be responsible of their internet use.
Most of us dont want our name to be stained because this nasty bloggers.But we can’t bridle that folks, there are no grounds if we dont have the evidence.I would like to suggest that we would create a bloggers organization and our mission is to keep track and arrest these SEO delinquents.
I always try to be fair and free from any online disputes so I made a Disclaimer Page on my blogs. But it is a new information for me that we should make it clear that bloggers should mention that they are using some affiliate links.
Thanks
nazimwarriach recently posted..4inkjets Coupon Code
Every one should be fair and free every time like you are. Using content of another person is like stealing his hard work and its a big crime
Bruker recently posted..XRF Gun
I remembered a friend of mine upon reading this post. He once told me that “Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.” I just thought this may be related in some way to what we’re talking about. I think with the advent of technology nowadays and the millions of people hooked on the internet, it is just right that rules and policies be made. Just as UN had its laws, then the “web” which is as good as the “present World” must also have.
However we cannot blame people for defying some of these rules, (copyright infringement for instance, as most are also unaware of the consequences of doing it. Also, most owners of website do not observe these laws themselves, so how could their audience follow something that the owner doesn’t?
Lastly, Have someone been arrested because of breaking a law in blogging?
I’ve heard about some defamations issues, but I haven’t thought too much about other issues seriously, though of course I would never violate the rights of my readers by not providing full info about my content. So, thank you for giving me the meal for my brain.
Copyright infringement, is a real problem but the fact is that no everybody abides it’s rules and laws.
I have seen many people copying content, images and even logos without even getting their website banned. It’s pretty upsetting to see this happening when you are by the law and respect it in every way.
Also, is always good to have a disclaimer on your website, just in case…
Alex recently posted..Justin Beiber dressup
I do appreciate your work here. I personally think that the biggest problem for some blogs is incorrect information or the information which has not been checked, and it may have a lot of negative effects as there are people who easily believe in everything what is written. They can not consider and think about how actual the information can be.
Do you know of any examples in each case, which will help prove your point? I have heard a few bloggers being sued but have no idea about the exact reason or even the outcome. Perhaps this information will add value to the readers.
Penny recently posted..Price Consistency in DealDash
The most slippy issue here, to my mind, is copyright infringement. I think webmasters should invent something either to avoid this issue at all or somehow protect images or articles from downloading.
But my personal opinion is that if you place something online, make it for general use.
Always double check information. This is especially true if you are going to pass on information as fact. Always cite your sources of information. This protects you from copyright infringement, plus you will earn the goodwill of any other blogs that you cite.
Bloggers are on the cutting edge of these kinds of issues because of the amount of information that we are disseminating and the reach that we have.
Richard recently posted..10 Easy Ways to Create Killer Content
I’d like to focus some more attention on the point concerning the correctness of the information placed on the site or blog. I guess people should be careful no matter how ‘respected’ the blog or the site is. I prefer checking any information.
Twitter: BoyVeasley
says:
I’m glad I took a peak at this article. I hope I never get into any trouble like this. It would suck for something to happen to me!
I’m going to try my best to avoid these legal issues!
Thanks!
God bless,
William Veasley
William Tha Great recently posted..Could Entrepreneurism be the Best Gift to Give
Twitter: davelucas
says:
Hmmm… this is a very very fuzzy area! The advice differs depending on who you talk to. I have a disclaimer at the footer of my blog.
Let me ask you and your readers: what do you guys think of these two posts (legality-wise?)
http://xiaxue.blogspot.com/2011/03/peter-coffin-is-loser.html
http://xiaxue.blogspot.com/2011/03/peter-coffin-is-his-own-legal-team.html
Dave Lucas recently posted..Marizela Perez Wristbands
Because our posts are shown globally, we should think more like journalists even if it’s only from the business perspective. The issues listed in this post are common knowledge at newspapers and magazines. We need to broaden our scope of what we’re doing.
It seems that we as blogger, need to pay more attention to some legal aspects so will not meet the issues in future.
Dana recently posted..BlackBerry As Home Security Tool