A blog is a great tool for getting your name out there and letting people take an inside look at your work or your business. Small business owners, corporations, and one-man operations alike can all benefit from a high-quality blog platform. However, there are certain legal issues that bloggers should be aware of to keep things above board:
Plagiarism is the act of passing someone else’s work off as your own. Copying and pasting large blocks of text from another blog, website, or written work can have serious legal consequences, including:
- Royalty payments: You could be forced to repay profits earned on the work that you plagiarized.
- Costly court battles to clear your name: If you are falsely accused of plagiarism, you might have to go to court before the accuser will admit you did not plagiarize his or her work. This is often the only way to clear your name, especially among academic or literary circles where plagiarism issues are most prevalent.
- Copyright lawsuits: If work is taken from another author or individual, the copyright lawsuit could be extremely costly.
- Jail time: Although it’s rather rare, plagiarism can result in criminal fraud charges in certain cases. Typically, criminal fraud charges are reserved for those who benefit greatly from their plagiarism, such as the man who faked his way into Harvard with fake test scores and won scholarships with plagiarized essays.
At the end of the day, plagiarism accusations are easy to avoid—it’s all an issue of attribution. You don’t have to formally cite every source like you would in a research paper, but make sure to include a hyperlink or “according to” statement whenever you use someone else’s information to write a blog post.
Copyright Infringement is a serious offense, and using photos on your blog can open you up to copyright issues. If you use images on your blog, make sure you pay for a photo service subscription or use a free stock photo service that does not have copyright issues.
Personal Information is a major issue for bloggers, especially those who run personal blogs and not corporate accounts. Be careful not to give out sensitive personal information in your posts, such as locations that people would easily recognize or pictures of documents or letters with your information on it. In addition, be careful how much you advertise your social media accounts on your blog, as your Facebook or Twitter posts can easily give away your activities.
Threats online can be just as real as in-person threats, so be careful what you say. Don’t say anything to commenters or others online that you wouldn’t feel comfortable—from a legal standpoint—saying out loud.
Criminal Activity seems like a no-brainer, but it’s worth a reminder. Avoid blogging about any illegal activity, and keep in mind that not all Internet users are coming from your state. For example, you might live in Washington, where marijuana use is legal, but if you post about smoking weed on your blog, remember that it is still illegal under federal law and a large share of state laws. While DEA agents will most likely overlook your blog post, more serious criminal activity—or more frequent posts about criminal activity—could certainly raise a red flag for local or state law enforcement.