Understanding your legal risks when you blog or publish

*_ Media Law _*
* Understanding your legal risks when you blog or publish

Over the next few weeks I'll be posting about various topics we cover in the CMLP's Citizen Media Legal Guide.
http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide
If you would like to read any of the previous "highlights" from the guide, you can find them here.
http://www.citmedialaw.org/taxonomy/term/104/

* Today, I'll start with the risks associated with publishing online
http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/risks-associated-publication
(for information on the legal risks associated with gathering, as opposed to
publishing, information, see the Newsgathering
http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/newsgathering-and-privacy
section of the CMLP's legal
guide). Every time you publish something online, whether it's a news
article, blog post, podcast, video, or even a user comment, you open yourself up to potential legal liability. This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise because the Internet, after all, is available to anyone who wishes to connect to the network, and even the smallest blog or most obscure discussion forum has the potential to reach hundreds of millions of people throughout the world.

Often the legal risks are small, but not always. The risks you could face when you publish online can take a number of forms, depending on what and how you publish. This post and the legal guide sections it links to are not intended to make you an expert on media law, but merely to help you identify potential "red flags" so that when you publish something that might result in liability, you will know to be extra careful and will take the necessary steps to minimize your potential legal risks.

Let's start with the more obvious risks...

Source: Berkman Center for Internet and Society