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3 Areas of Law We Have Not Begun to Touch

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Phantom Touch ImageCopyright, trademark, privacy and pornography. These are all issues that, while still very much unsettled, we’ve at least begun to address online.

While not all of the answers have been great, there are signs that the law is thinking about these issues and that the wheels of justice are grinding forward.

So while that may be small comfort, it’s important to remember that there are areas of the law that we either barely have addressed or have not addressed at all.

It’s in these spaces that the next frontier of Internet law may be hiding. These may well be the areas of law to become hot topics in the coming years and they could easily be the areas that will have huge impacts on you and your sites as they rise up.

On that note, here’s a look at the areas of law that we haven’t really begun to address, but most likely will have to soon. [Read more…] about 3 Areas of Law We Have Not Begun to Touch

Should Bloggers Care About Copyright Infringement?

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Decision ImageIf you blog long enough, it’s not so much a matter of if but when your site gets infringed upon. Between the spammers that are likely to scrape your posts, plagiarist bloggers that will take what they like as their own and others who will try to share your content in ways that don’t give you as much as a link back, you’re bound to hit at least a few infringements if you look hard enough.

But should you care? Is it really worth the time to search for such infringements, find them and stop them? After all, many bloggers have their content infringed upon and never even realize it, seemingly not hurt by it at all. Others, however, appear to obsess over it, tracking every infringement and working doggedly to stop it.

So which approach is right? Well, that’s a personal decision and it’s one that stems from your specific situation including your search engine position, your personal feelings toward your work and the other sites in your niche.

Whether you want to care or don’t want to care, it’s pretty easy to justify your position. However, it’s important to be honest and make the decision that’s right for you and for your content.

With that in mind, here are a few factors to consider. [Read more…] about Should Bloggers Care About Copyright Infringement?

Are Bloggers Journalists? Are Journalists Bloggers?

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Journalism Image of NewspapersIn 2010, a survey conducted by PRWeek and PRNewswire found that over half of all bloggers consider themselves to be journalists. This was up from just a third of all bloggers two years before.

The question of whether or not bloggers are journalists is an old one and it can be an important one legally. As the EFF puts it, journalists can often times keep confidential sources private, gain extra protection in libel cases in the form of retraction statutes and receive fee waivers when Freedom of Information Act requests.

But while all of this is true, The Atlantic, in 2011, argued that we shouldn’t care whether or not bloggers are journalists, that the issue isn’t very important and that reporters at large publications and organization have much stronger protections than the title “journalist”.

Still, the subject is a sensitive one for bloggers, who are often eager for the weight and credibility that comes with being a journalist. When blogger Crystal Cox was ruled to not be a journalist in 2011 and ordered to pay millions in a defamation lawsuit filed by the founder of an investment group, after denying her protection under the state’s shield law that protects journalist sources, many bloggers took up arms. However, once the details of the case came to light and it was clear just how wrong much of Cox’s information was, attitudes slowly changed.

But it leaves the bigger question unresolved: Are bloggers journalists? To get the answer, we have to first look at what the question is really asking and try to drill down to the important answers. [Read more…] about Are Bloggers Journalists? Are Journalists Bloggers?

The Legal Risks in Guest Blog Posts

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Swim at Your Own Risk

Ideally, guest posts are great for both your site and for you as the webmaster. For the guest post author, it’s a way to expand their reach and talk directly to your audience. For you, it’s a way to take it a little easy one day, offer some variety for your readers and improve the discourse on your site.

However, like almost anything you do online, guest posting comes with a set of legal risks. For the author of the guest post, these risks are pretty clear, they’re the author of the post so they bear all of the usual risks that come with publishing anything online.

But what about the owner of the site? They didn’t write anything and are just accepting and publishing the works of someone else, do they have legal risks to worry about?

The answer, sadly, is yes. You can’t simply publish anything that someone hands you and expect that you face no potential liability or other consequences. Depending on the details of your guest post, you can be held accountable for what your guest authors publish. Fortunately, there are simple ways to mitigate that risk and prevent guest posts form causing you trouble down the road. [Read more…] about The Legal Risks in Guest Blog Posts

5 Reasons Everyone Should Have a Lawyer

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Lawyer ImageSimply put: Lawyers get a bad rap these days.

While I love a good lawyer joke as much as the next guy, the truth is that most lawyers are honest, hard-working and knowledgeable professionals that look out for the best interest of their clients. Like doctors, mechanics or accountants they are professionals with an area of expertise and an important service to provide.

But where most of us don’t think twice about having a family doctor or keeping a handy man on call, many people feel that having a lawyer is a sign that something is wrong. To many, it’s a sign that someone is either looking for trouble or doing something risky that might make them more likely to have legal problems.

Generally, if you aren’t super-wealthy or a villain on a crime show, it’s not widely expected you’d have any attorney you can call when needed without searching. Instead, you’re expected to “get an attorney” when things get rough.

But what’s expected of you is not always best for you, especially if you’re a webmaster, businessman or someone who is in a position where they may need a lawyer sometime in the future. Just like with a doctor or a mechanic, it’s best to have an established relationship with someone before things go bad, so you have someone who knows who you are and can dive right in to help.

If you aren’t working with an attorney, today is a great day to get one because tomorrow it may be too late. But, even if there isn’t an urgent need on the horizon, there are still several reasons why it is a great idea to get a lawyer today. Here are a few to consider. [Read more…] about 5 Reasons Everyone Should Have a Lawyer

The Problem with Every TOS You Sign

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Last month, a change to the Instagram terms of service (TOS), which was scheduled to go into effect January 16th, sparked controversy as it led many users to believe that photos uploaded to the system could be used in advertisement without payment. Fortunately, the controversy turned out to be much ado about nothing as Instagram not only clarified but backed away from the new TOS.

Still, it appears that at least some damage has already been done. Some figures estimate that Instagram may have lost as much as 25% of its users after the debacle and competitors, such as Flickr, are stepping up to snatch those users up.

But even if the impasse blows over, it’s just the latest in a long line of TOS-related controversies including Google Drive, Craigslist, Ancestry.com and many more.

However, the problem isn’t just with those sites and services, in fact, it isn’t limited to any one company or kind of company at all. The problem is with the Web itself and with the way we handle contracts.

As we discussed back in March, you sign a variety of contracts to run your site but the problem is that all of those contracts are horribly one-sided. They are all written and signed for the sole purpose of protecting the company that wrote it, not you.

This is something to keep in mind the next time you click “I accept” on a TOS, as you are giving the company you’re signing with an incredible amount of power and trust. Trust that may be misplaced. [Read more…] about The Problem with Every TOS You Sign

3 Self-Gifts to Protect Your Blog Legally

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Present ImageThe holiday season, for most, is a time for giving gifts to others. However, it’s also often a time of being generous to oneself and enjoying the finer things in life that, often times, we deprive ourselves most of the year.

When it comes to your blog and the laws that govern it, it’s no different. Many of us ignore the basic steps that we can take to protect ourselves legally thinking that it’s too expensive, too time-consuming or generally not worthwhile. However, the moment a legal crisis hits, we often begin to regret that thinking.

So, with the holidays upon us and, perhaps with a little more time on the clock and income in our pocket, the time has come to reevaluate how we protect ourselves legally and maybe take a few extra steps to ensure a brighter future for our sites and ourselves.

On that note, here are three legally-minded gifts that you can give yourself right now and better protect you and your work for years to come. [Read more…] about 3 Self-Gifts to Protect Your Blog Legally

A Brief Primer on Section 230 Protections

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Knights ImageTwo weeks ago, in my article on laws that bloggers can be thankful for, I wrote that one of five laws was Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).

Indeed, of the five laws listed, Section 230 probably does more to protect bloggers, forum administrators and other webmasters than any other on the list. However, it’s also the law that seems to be least understood.

So, to help bloggers understand their rights when dealing with content provided by third parties, I’ve prepared a relatively brief primer on Section 230 including its history, what it says and how it applies to blogging.

However, in addition to this one, I also highly recommend checking out the EFF’s guide on the topic as it covers some slightly different ground.

On that note, we’re brought to our first question: How did Section 230 come about? [Read more…] about A Brief Primer on Section 230 Protections