Considering how rapidly blogs are evolving, it's no surprise that laws governing them are far from clear. Before launching a business blog, it's important to consider a few issues with your legal team to make sure your blog doesn't land you in murky legal waters.
Intellectual property rights is a key area. How should borrowed content be attributed for direct quotations, paraphrases, or hyperlinks? Must reader comments follow the same guidelines? What sorts of permissions are required to reproduce materials from another source?
Care must be taken to avoid charges of libel. What constitutes libel? Do the company's blog writers understand libel law? Does the company have exposure arising from reader comments?
Especially when blogs are written by employees, care must be taken to prevent publishing trade secrets or other confidential corporate information. Do the blog writers clearly understand what information is private and confidential?
Another key privacy issue is that of intentionally or accidentally exposing the confidential information of competitors, suppliers, customers, or strategic partners. Besides potential legal ramifications, a violation of privacy rights can potentially destroy crucial business relationships.
Fortunately, a body of legal precedent has begun to form at both the state and federal levels. Many law firms have at least one attorney on staff who specializes in Internet law, and some firms even specialize in that area. Next time, we will offer some resources companies can tap into for more information.
