Questions About Blogging Legally

by Mike Sigers

Ask Bob Silber A Legal Question About Blogging

So far we’ve gotten a few questions, but not nearly enough, so I’m gonna toss out some chum and see if any of you sharks will bite.

1) Can we use third party forum posts as content on our blogs ?

2) Can we use third party screenshots on our blog ?

3) Does our email update service ( FeedBlitz, FeedBurner, Aweber ) have to be CAN-SPAM Act Compliant ?

4) Can we sue Google for changing our Page Rank ?

5) Do we have any liability for any of the affiliate programs we promote ?

6) How can we be sure of ownership of the blog design we pay for ?

7) What do we need to do to make sure we own the content we pay to have written ?

8) I had a piece of software coded ( as a give-away for the purpose of getting links and subscribers ) on elance.com, what if some of the code it was copied from another piece of software ?

9) I write a health related blog…am I liable for any claims I make ? … claims made by products I endorse ?

10) Can my copy be too hypey for my own good on my blog ?

11) What can happen to me if I make defamatory or derogatory comments about a person ? … about a company ?

12) Do I need disclaimers on my blog ?

13) Do I need a Privacy Policy on my blog ?

14) Do I need a Terms of Service statement ?

15) I post semi-nude to nude photos on my blog, can I be charged under the Child Online Protection Act ?

16) I sell software on my blog and someone’s misusing a copy they bought from me. Is my software license that I had them check a legal, binding contract ?

As you might imagine, I’ve edited some of the questions for clarity and brevity.

This is not quite half of what I’ve received so far, so you can see we need more.

Please either leave your question here in the comments section, or go to the Ask Bob Silber page and ask your question there.

If you go to the Ask Bob Silber page, you’ll have the chance to sign-up for an email update of the products readiness and/or subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog.

Please do me the favor of :

- Leaving a question at one place or the other

- Linking to this post or linking to the original post

- Emailing an announcement to your list

We need all the questions we can get, so we can educate you as much as possible.

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