A couple of weeks ago I attended an Own-IT event all about the legal side to blogging. I was introduced to the event by Improbulus and a huge thanks there as it turned out to be a very educational evening.
It started with a presentation from Dan at MindCandy and then moved on to a chap called Robert Lands from legal firm Finers Stephens Innocent LLP . (Incidentally Robert, the invitation to speak at the London Bloggers Meetup still stands. If you’re interested do please let me know when you’re available).
I found Robert’s presentation very engaging and his relaxed style made it easy listening. No disrespect to the legal profession, but they are not known for their humour..
So what are the top 10 tips I took away from Robert’s presentation**
2. Yes you can get fired if you blog about your job, employer or other employees, even if you change the names involved. If it’s possible for readers to interpret what you’ve written as being about your employer, you’ve had it.. and there are plenty of examples of this.
3. As a blogger you are seen by the law as a professional journalist and publisher. Therefore anything you write about a person or company in a defamatory way leaves you open to being sued for libel (this is more relevant in the UK than the US as apparently we have tighter controls on freedom of speech).
4. If your server is in India how can I be sued by someone in the US? Well it seems you can, the law of the land where your media is consumed is most important. So in the understanding that nobody knows the laws of every land, you might want to add a ‘terms of use’ page to your site stating something like ‘if you read this blog you agree to be bound by the laws of (your home country)…..’ or words to that effect. Contact your local legal beagle for advice on this, or if you’re in the UK contact Finers Stephens Innocent LLP.http://www.fsilaw.com/.
5. If someone takes a disliking to the content on your blog / web 2.0 site, probably the first you will know about it is when you get a letter asking you to take down the content. It might help to have a page on your site with “Notice and Take Down Policies” i.e. telling people how you will deal with any complaint.
6. With copyright, you can get done for linking to a site that infringes someone else’s copyright. Incredible if you ask me, but I don’t set the rules. So be careful what content and blogs you link to as they may be putting you at risk. It’s called ‘making available’.
7. Don’t ever blog about the intellectual property you are generating at work e.g. technology you are developing for your employer, or content you are writing. This will land you in hot water as they will own all this content and you giving it away is not a good thing. Equally, make sure your own employees know your policy here.
8. If you are publishing content written by others, either who you have paid or not, make it clear who owns the content. Get it down on paper with each writer to avoid any problems later on with intellectual property rights.
9. If you write about a company don’t be tempted to include a copy of their logo in your post (I’ve done this a lot). If the company doesn’t like your content you could be done for things like Dilution of the brand, or incorrect usage of a Trade Mark.
10. remember, you are seen by the law as a professional journalist, so you should be prepared to be treated as one. Get some legal advice or do some research so you understand your legal position, before it’s too late.
So there you go. If you haven’t realised why I started on point 2, it’s because point 1. is below. Hope all that was helpful.
** disclaimer. These comments do not constitute legal advice and you should consult a qualified legal practitioner before using any of this advice (point number 1. do not offer advice you are not qualified to give..)
