A Legal Primer for Bloggers - #BIN2010
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The document summarizes legal issues relevant to bloggers, including intellectual property law (copyright, trademark), defamation, privacy, and net neutrality. It discusses copyright law concepts like fair use and attribution. It also covers forming a business entity to protect professional bloggers from legal liability.
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A Legal Primer for Bloggers - #BIN2010
- 1. A Legal Primer for Bloggers (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010 Blog Indiana 2010
- 2. Kenan L. Farrell Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law [email_address] www.KLFLegal.com (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 3. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010 @ VonnegutLibrary @IDADA @UptownLocals @IndyBlues
- 4. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010 indianaintellectualproperty.wordpress.com
- 5. Today’s AGENDA Intellectual Property (Copyright, Trademark) Criminal Law Defamation (Truth as Defense, Public v. Private Figures) Privacy (Publication of Private Information, “Newsworthy”) Net Neutrality Wikileaks Corporate Blogging Business Entity Formation for Professional Bloggers (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 6. Laws vary state-by-state. You publish to all states. You may be subject to 50 different laws. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 7. Copyright 101 Copyright are exclusive rights granted to the creator of an original work Bundle of Rights 1) reproduction of the work 2) preparation of derivative works 3) distribution of copies of the work 4) public performances of the work 5) public display of the work. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 8. Dear KLF Legal, What obligation do I have to give attribution to an original source? To what extent can I use the content of a news story? Do I have any obligation to not delete comments from my wall/comment board? (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 9. Internet – no barriers to copying (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 10. The Internet Is Built on Copying (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 11. It’s Technically Infringement, but it may be a “Fair Use” Fair Use factors: the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; the nature of the copyrighted work; the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 12. The law favors “transformative” use. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010 “ transformative” - the original use, purpose, or intent of the material has been changed significantly into something substantially different in both appearance and objective
- 13. Copyright Fair Use Comment and Criticism - If you are commenting upon or critiquing a copyrighted work - for instance, writing a book review - fair use principles allow you to reproduce some of the work to achieve your purposes. News Reporting Teaching Research Parody 17 USC § 107. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 14. How to avoid copyright infringement CREATE 100% ORIGINAL CONTENT USE CONTENT LICENSED FOR REUSE* GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE! (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 15. * (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 16. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010 Time, Politico rip off Rolling Stone, publish PDFs – 6/28/10
- 17. Copyright Troll (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 18. Litigation Updates (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 19. Google Wins Viacom Copyright Lawsuit – 6/23/10 YouTube’s “mere knowledge” of infringing activity “is not enough.” YouTube had no way of knowing whether a video was licensed by the owner, was a “fair use” of the material “or even whether its copyright owner or licensee objects to its posting. DMCA Sec. 230 - limiting the liability of on-line services from copyright infringement of their users (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 20. Trademark 101 A trademark is a 1) distinctive sign or indicator 2) used to identify products or services as originating from a unique source, and 3) to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities. Reduces consumer confusion Reduces unfair competition (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 21. Pepsi®, McDonalds®, Apple® or (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 22. Trademark 101 Get your domain names At bare minimum, do a Google search for similar marks When budget permits, seek federal registration Always use a proper trademark notice (™ for common law rights, ® if you’ve obtained registration) (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 23. Nominative Fair Use You are permitted to use somebody else’s trademark if using the trademark is necessary to identify the products, services, or company you’re talking about, and you don’t use the mark to suggest the company endorses you. "shopping for books at Walmart” "playing a Playstation game” "wearing Oakley sunglasses." (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 24. Criminal Law (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 25. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 26. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 27. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 28. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 29. tinyurl.com/reallydumbfacebookposts (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 30. Comments You have a First Amendment right to publish your blog in the way that you want, which includes the right to choose who may participate in discussions on your blog. You’re able to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic. Respect the voice of others. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 31. http://www.march18.org/ On March 18, 2009, Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian blogger and journalist, died in Evin Prison in Tehran. Each March 18 will stand as a day of memorial to Omid and commemorate the risks taken by bloggers around the world to tell their stories. #IranElection (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 32. Recent Headlines China blogger who helped quake victims jailed – 11/23/09 Cuban court overturns blogger’s prison sentence – 5/18/10 Will There Be Justice for Murdered Egyptian Blogger? – 7/28/10 Burmese blogger's prison term reduced to 12 years – 8/12/10 Nokia Siemens says it didn’t help Iranian government spy on blogger – 8/20/10 (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 33. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 34. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010 www.eff.org
- 35. Wikileaks (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 36. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 37. Net Neutrality Really really really F’d. The First Amendment issue of our time. Neutrality - No restrictions by ISPs and governments on content, sites, platforms, on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and no restrictions on the modes of communication allowed (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 38. PRIVACY Publication of private information (Indiana): A public disclosure of private information concerning the plaintiff that would be highly offensive and objectionable to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities; to persons who have no legitimate interest in the information; in a manner that is coercive and oppressive. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 39. “ Newsworthy” Private information is newsworthy if some reasonable members of the community could entertain a legitimate interest in it. Public has a legitimate interest in almost all recent events, even if it involves private information about participants, as well as a legitimate interest in the private lives of prominent or notorious figures (such as actors, actresses, professional athletes, public officers, noted inventors, or war heroes). (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 40. Newsworthiness is not limited to reports of current events, but extends to articles for the purposes of education, amusement, or enlightenment. However, a court may look at whether the private information is pertinent to an otherwise newsworthy story. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 41. DEFAMATION Defamation is the issuance of a false statement about another person, which causes that person to suffer harm. Slander involves spoken defamatory statements. Libel involves defamatory statements in a printed or fixed medium, such as a newspaper, book or blog. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 42. Anyone who repeats someone else’s statements is just as responsible for the defamatory content as the original speaker if they knew, or had reason to know, of the defamation. DMCA provides strong protection (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 43. Private individual only has to prove you acted negligently, which is to say that a “reasonable person” would not have published the defamatory statement. A public figure must show “actual malice” – that you published with either knowledge of falsity or in reckless disregard for the truth. A “public figure” is someone who has actively sought, in a given matter of public interest, to influence the resolution of the matter. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 44. Corporate Blogging Disclosure of non-public information through the use of blogs can expose a company to liability for violating securities regulations on selective disclosure. Information NOT allowed in blog postings: buying and selling stock product launches regulatory proceedings or investigations results of product trials If a disclosure does occur, the company needs to immediately evaluate the extent of the disclosure and determine if some form of follow up is required. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 45. Professional Bloggers How should you structure your business? Two key features to consider in structuring your business are: liability protection desired tax treatment. There are several ways to form a business including: sole proprietorship, partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, and limited liability partnerships. (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
- 46. Contact: /KLFLegal (c) Kenan L. Farrell 2010
Editor's Notes
- #5: I recently attended Blog Indiana 2009, a 3-day blogging and social media conference that aimed to promote education, innovation and collaboration among Indiana’s fast-growing blogging community. The conference was very informative and had an extraordinary turnout. However, despite all the great information we were getting, it became clear that a lot of legal issues were going unanswered (or un-asked). Being the only attorney in the packed room, that wasn’t totally surprising. However, knowing that these issues are important for every blogger to at least consider, I’ve decided to prepare a series of posts dealing specifically with the legal issues that bloggers should be thinking about.
- #7: subject to personal jurisdiction in a state if the party has purposely availed itself of the resources or protection of the state, and if the exercise of jurisdiction does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. General jurisdiction exists when an out-of-state party has extensive, systematic and continuous dealings with the state in which the court sits.
- #23: Failure to use notice may hinder the prosecution of a trademark infringement action, by allowing the wrongdoer to claim "innocent infringement" as a defense Reduce damages you can claim
- #36: “ ... could become as important a journalistic tool as the Freedom of Information Act. „ — Time Magazine