Blogging is publishing. And whether you are a professional journalist or an independent publisher, you need to know what laws apply when publishing via a Weblog.
That’s why the Electionic Frontier Foundation has created an excellent new guide to help bloggers understand the law and their rights: eff.org/bloggers/lg
“The goal here is to give you a basic roadmap to the legal issues you may confront as a blogger, to let you know you have rights, and to encourage you to blog freely with the knowledge that your legitimate speech is protected,” the site says.
Among the topics covered in depth:
- Legal issues that affect you as a publisher, especially situations where you may face legal claims or threats based on the information you published on your blog. Issues that arise when you publish material created by others on your blog.
- An overview of defamation (libel) law, including a discussion of the constitutional and statutory privileges that may protect you.
- A look at a federal law that gives you protection against legal claims arising from hosting information written by third parties.
- The legal issues surrounding the privacy rights of people you blog about.
- A FAQ on the Reporter’s Privilege that is useful to bloggers who report news gathered from confidential sources.
- Tips for bloggers who need to get access to public records and government meetings, as well as secure press passes to help with newsgathering.
- Legal issues you may face when blogging about political campaigns.
- A look at legal issues with workplace blogging, including union organizing, protections for political blogging away from the workplace, and whistle blowing.
Editor’s Note: Web Tips will take a brief hiatus while both columnists move on to new full-time jobs. Jonathan Dube has been named editorial director for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Website, CBC.ca. Sree Sreenivasan has been named Dean of Students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Web Tips will return July 26. Meanwhile, you can read more than 300 previous WebTips columns here.
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