We are living in the age of visual content. We are living in the age where engaging imagery has become an integral part of all content marketing tactics. It’s hard, if not impossible, to conceive a blog post today without quality photos since articles accompanied by photos are likely to get 94% more views. Blogging is indissolubly linked to imagery, and this is due to multiple reasons. [Read more…]
7 Laws Every Blogger Must Know to Avoid Lawsuits
Bloggers, like “traditional” journalists, are protected from legal action by a variety of laws. However, they also have unique responsibilities under the law, and not all bloggers are aware of those responsibilities. What does the law require of you, and how can you avoid a lawsuit?
The laws discussed below only apply to bloggers living in the United States. If you’re not a resident of the United States, your own laws may be very different. For example, while the United States permits Holocaust denial and other forms of repugnant speech, the German government is not as lenient.
According to Sherwin Arzani, a civil attorney in Los Angeles, CA, “This doesn’t give you a right to speak without consequence, however. It’s important to remember that this amendment is all about the relationship between citizens and the government: it doesn’t protect you from other citizens.”
[Read more…]
From SEO to Copyright Law to Visuals, a Great Blog Requires Much Attention
Blogging is more than just blurting out your emotions on the Internet. It’s a style of writing that requires honesty, accuracy and a little flamboyance. Be careful, though. Your online audience could either make you a viral sensation or a complete bust almost overnight.
Like any form of writing, there are standards and styles to abide when blogging. If you want your blog to get noticed, you also have to optimize your content to be recognized by Google and other search engines. [Read more…]
Are You Making These Common Legal Mistakes on Your Blog?
Editor’s Note: This post was written by Aaron George, an entrepreneur focused on changing the legal industry. His startup called LawKick makes it easier than ever to find affordable, qualified legal help for free.
People blog for different reasons. Some just do it for fun. Some use it as a marketing tool for other products and services. Some do it full-time and make a living by serving up ad impressions. No matter what your reason is, it’s a good idea to be aware of the key legal considerations of operating a blog.
Depending on your blog strategy and your reason for blogging in the first place, there are different legal obligations you must meet.
Photo credit: Anonymous Collective via Flickr
For the casual blogger just writing for the thrill of self-expression, you won’t have more than a few minor legal concerns to think about. But if blogging is your primary source of income, there are more serious legal issues that come into play, and you should definitely address them before it’s too late.
This post highlights three of the most common legal mistakes made by bloggers, along with some tips on what you can do to avoid them. [Read more…]
How to Protect Your WordPress Content From Copyright Infringement
Copyright infringement is a serious problem for WordPress creatives. We’ll look at how users can make infringement more difficult and whether they should.
For those of us who make a living producing content for the web, copyright is often at the forefront of the issues that generate the most controversy. The freedom with which information can be propagated through the network is fundamental to the functioning of the online information economy, but no one likes to see the content that they’ve worked hard to create disproportionately benefiting free-riders. [Read more…]
Kim Dotcom and Mega
Some of you in the crowd may remember the file-sharing site, Megaupload. They used to be the go-to option for cloud storage and easy access, yeah? As many of you know, that site hasn’t been around in ages, 1 year to be exact, but as the saying goes, ‘when one door closes, another one opens.’ From the ashes of Megaupload’s destruction rises MEGA, founded by Kim Dotcom.
What is MEGA?
Mega stands for Mega-Encrypted-Global-Access, and it may or may not put you at ease considering where you stood this time last year when Megaupload bit the dust. The site is geared for brilliance no matter which way you look at it, though:
- 3 low-cost plans, 1 free plan
- Awesome traffic ranking thanks to some massive back-linking efforts
- More files than you can shake a stick at, 50M and going strong
- Privacy and Protection, as only 1 user has ever been fined for piracy
This certainly is not the Megaupload of yore, folks. They have a 10 Gigabit throughput and that delivers you some of the best speed from any file-sharing or cloud storage site. Ever.
5 Legal Nightmares to Scare you on Halloween
With Halloween rapidly approaching, almost everyone is in the mood for a good ghost, zombie or vampire story. But while there’s always a good chill to be had from a scary tale or movie, some of the most frightening things aren’t works of fiction or stories at all, they’re simple facts.
Of those types of scary things, there is little more frightening than the law itself and how it can impact our daily lives.
As bloggers, we’re even more vulnerable than most when it comes to legal issues because, in addition to the usual spate of laws one has to follow day-to-day, we have the responsibilities of dealing with mass media law as well. Something, previously, few outside of the TV, radio, print and related industries had to deal with.
So, if you want some scary thoughts to give you something to ponder, here are five of the scariest legal realities and what they mean for you. [Read more…]
20 Legal Facts Every Blogger Should Know
When it comes to legal issues, most bloggers are either unaware or misinformed about the laws that they operate under. Unless you studied to be a journalist, publisher or a lawyer, you most likely didn’t get an overview of mass media law. That’s unfortunate because now, with blogging and social media, everyone is a journalist and/or a publisher, at least from a legal perspective.
With that in mind, there is simply way too much to ever cover in one article. However, here is a brief overview of some of the facts that you need to know in order to stay safe online. Obviously, this won’t be in-depth and, if you want more information you should consult an attorney (or at least do further research).
But this should give you an idea of what you should be looking for and what questions you should be asking.
Also, it’s worth noting that these facts are based on U.S. law, if you are outside the country, obviously the situation is going to change.
On that note, here’s a look at 20 legal facts every blogger needs to know: [Read more…]
6 Reasons to Register Your Site with the U.S. Copyright Office
If you’ve been reading my column here on the Blog Herald, then you already know that copyright is placed into a work the moment that it is created. This means that you don’t need to do anything at all in order to ensure that your work is protected and that others who misuse it are breaking the law.
But while that’s definitely true, it’s also not quite the full story. In the U.S., though copyright is granted in a work the moment its fixed into a tangible medium of expression, one does not have all of the tools needed to enforce that copyright until they take an additional step.
That additional step is timely registration with the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) and for many bloggers, both in the U.S. and abroad, it’s a both a good idea and an important step you can take to protect your work.
If you’re wondering why you should register, there are actually many but here are six of the big reasons to get you started (PDF). [Read more…]
5 Legal Problems Raised By Mobile Blogging
Blogging, as well as almost all media, is become much more mobile. Not only are people reading and consuming news on the go, but they are also recording, writing and photographing it as well.
This move stems directly from the rise in both smartphones, which often include high-definition video/still cameras, as well as other portable recording and Internet-connected devices. From Flip cameras to laptops, you can run an entire multimedia empire without ever sitting in an office.
However, all of this mobility comes with it a series of new legal questions and issues that desktop-only bloggers don’t have to face. When you’re recording audio and video on the street, you have some additional concerns to worry about.
Fortunately, they are legal questions that you can easily address and deal with, so long as you’re aware of them and take steps to avoid them before you step out the door. [Read more…]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 12
- Next Page »
