Continuing with our series of highlights from last weekend’s Wordcamp RDU Lawyer Chris Gatewood (Hischler Fleischer) talked about how to keep ourselves out of hot water.

Key points included:

• Copyrights.  You should include the copyright footer in your documents, but you’re still protected if you don’t. (It can also be a deterrent to prevent others from lifting your work.)  But copyright protection actually begins the moment you put your content into or onto some type of media.
• Can you use it? Laws are still evolving around fair use for text content, but news agencies, music publishers and others will hunt you down for using their materials without a license. The so-called “30 second rule” (you can use up to 30 seconds) is a myth.
• Borrowing videos–it’s generally safer to embed from YouTube or similar site instead of directly.
• It’s easy to fight back. If someone’s illegally using your content on the web, you can just send a “take-down” letter to their hosting company or the social site–you don’t need to track down the offender directly. Congress gave ISP’s the ability to take down material that violates these laws and they are typically quick to enforce it.

Finally, before you get all fired up to for a rant, remember that it’s easier to avoiding cries of defamation if you’re–

• Telling the truth (technically, defamation is making a false statement)
• Saying something so outlandish it borders on parody
• Giving your opinion

And of course, there’s more leeway if you’re talking about a public figure rather than the neighbor down the street.

It’s surprising the number of people who have already run into these issues and received letters from lawyers telling them to cease-and-desist or take down content. Has it happened to you? If so, please share in the comments below!

If you missed it, so far I’ve covered…

WordPress News, Tips & Stories from founder Matt Mullenweg

SEO for Blogs from Andy Beal

5 Ways to Get Others to Create Content for You

Tomorrow…building a community around your blog and Tweetshop.

Tweet This Post