Blog Law

Blog Laws Brett Atwood

Litigation Risks
Copyright Infringement
Invasion of Privacy
Defamation
Sexual Harassment
Hostile Work Environment Claims
Other Legal Risks

Copyright Infringement
Copyrighted content on your blog can result in legal action
Example:
ABC vs. “Spocko’s Brain”

“Deep Linking”
The legality is in debate
Most courts have found that you can “deep link” into another person’s content
Shetland Times vs. Shetland News
Ticketmaster vs. Microsoft
Ticketmaster vs. Tickets.com
Breaking News:
In Dec. 2006, a new court ruling in Texas found the opposite
SFX Motorsports vs. SuperCrossLive.com

Invasion of Privacy
Disclosure of personal facts that were not previously known to public
A public figure has less recourse than a private citizen
Can I be sued?
Perhaps. If it is not deemed “newsworthy” and it causes harm to the individual’s reputation and well-being

Invasion of Privacy
Example:
Washingtonienne.com
A woman in Washington D.C. posts details of her “affairs” with prominent political figures
One politician sued for $20 million claiming “invasion of privacy”
Court case is pending

Defamation Defined
A false and unprivileged statement of fact that is harmful to someone's reputation, and published "with fault," meaning as a result of negligence or malice.
State laws often define defamation in specific ways.
Libel is a written defamation
Slander is a spoken defamation.

Defamation Online
The US Supreme Court has said that blogs have the same protections as traditional media:
"in the context of defamation law, the rights of the institutional media are no greater and no less than those enjoyed by other individuals and organizations engaged in the same activities."

Opinion
The labeling of a blog published statement as “opinion” does not guarantee that it won’t be found to be libelous
Courts ask: “Would a ‘reasonable’ person confuse your statement for fact?”
The context of the statement is also examined
Chat rooms and blog “comments” are usually seen as “opinion” by design and are more likely to be exempt from “libel”

Examples of Actual Cases
Considered Libelous (when false):
Calling an attorney a "crook"
Describing a woman as a call girl
Accusing a minister of unethical conduct
Accusing a father of violating the confidence of son

Examples of Actual Cases
NOT Libelous:
Calling a TV show participant a "local loser," "chicken butt" and "big skank"
Calling someone a "bitch" or a "son of a bitch"
Changing product code name from "Carl Sagan" to "Butt Head Astronomer"

Trade Libel
Trade libel is defamation against the goods or services of a company or business.
For example, saying that you found a severed finger in you're a particular company's chili (if it isn't true).

Defamation in Blogs
If you repeat someone else's defamatory statement in your blog, can you be found to be held at the same standard as the original speaker?
This would have great implications for “guestbooks” and “comments” that are left online and/or unmoderated

Defamation Online
Recognizing the difficulty this would pose in the online world, Congress enacted Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act
Provides a strong protection against liability for Internet "intermediaries" who provide or republish speech by others.

Section 230 of the CDA
Protects bloggers in most circumstances
Bloggers are not liable for defamatory content written by “third parties”
Comments
RSS Feeds
Chat rooms
This protection does not necessarily apply to you if you hand select and publish the above content

Defamation
$11.1 million awarded in Oct. 2006 in a widely observed suit
Largest fine of its kind
A woman posted negative comments about a business owner after their transaction went bad
Used terms “crook,” “con artist” and “fraud”

Sexual Harassment
27 workers fired for sexually-charged blogs and postings on MySpace
The Auto Club of Southern California employees made comments about weight and sexual orientation of other workers through their postings and “Friends” comments

Security Breaches
Loss of Trade Secrets
Confidential Information
Intellectual Property

Apple vs. Does
Apple Computer sued various blog and indie news sites to reveal the source of leaked “trade secrets” relating to a music project
The “Does” are “John Does”
They are the unknown parties that leaked the documents

Apple vs. Does
Apple attempted to subpoena the ISP to give up the e-mail records of those involved
A court ruled that the bloggers/sites were allowed to the same constitutional protections as traditional journalists
Apple was further ordered to pay $700,000 in legal fees

Regulatory Violations
Mismanagement of Electronic Business Records
There may be a legal obligation to archive all postings related to the company
Blogs can be used for against the company if a legal matter arises

Loss of Control
Once you cede control of the message to outsiders, there is no guarantee that they will stay “on message”
Comments should be moderated
Some sites do not allow any comments

Spam + Blog = “Splog”
Online marketers are taking advantage of the “community” aspect of blogs to deliver spam via “comments” section and other posting opportunities

http://www.virtualjournalism.net	240
http://wsu-journ475.blogspot.com	68
http://www.wsu-journ475.blogspot.com	14
http://www.blogger.com	5
http://bloggideas.blogspot.com	4
http://learning.blackboard.com	1

Blog Law

by Brett Atwood on Jun 13, 2007

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

6 Embeds 332

Statistics

Blog Law — Presentation Transcript