I just finished reading a book that I checked out at a local
library written by Mark Pearson which was published by Allen & Unwin 2012
called, “Blogging and Tweeting without Getting Sued: A global guide to the law
for anyone writing online”. If you are anything like me, I’m sure you’ve
wondered what is safe to post and how do I stay away from being sued for things
posted on any of these Web 2.0 applications. I’m mainly going to focus on
blogging, tweeting, and posting on Facebook because that is mainly what was discussed
in this book and I believe they’re very important things to know. Did you know
that you can be sued depending on the laws in each state? Did you know that you
can be part of a lawsuit for reposting pictures or comments especially if you
add things to them? I’m sure you all have seen friends of yours saying harmful
things about public figures, businesses, distributors, and so on. These actions
believe it or not can get you in a lot of trouble so be careful what you say or
post. There are several things to watch out for in utilizing these Web 2.0
applications the main topics I’d like to discuss further are defamation,
sharing, intellectual property.
Defamation is a communication of a statement that is false that
is portrayed to be fact that is damaging to reputation. The form of defamation
on web publications in the form of print is legally referred to as libel. As
soon as you say something foul about another person or business you have
defamed that person or business with your comment. Depending on how damaging
your comment was depends on rather criminal or civil charges be placed on you.
In most libel cases the courts award a large sum to persuade these actions from
happening again. So I believe a good rule of thumb here is, NEVER, post or
write comments that aren’t facts and that you wouldn’t say face to face.
Sharing is another topic I’d like to discuss further because
it is used significantly in the social world of Facebook and Twitter. I didn’t
think reposting something someone else wrote could get me in trouble, but the fact
of the matter is, it can! Although the original author is responsible for their
harsh comments you can be as well, especially if you add more incendiary
material to the publication. So think twice before reposting a comment on
Facebook or re-tweeting something on Twitter because you are republishing that
material under your name and will share the legal liability of the original
author.
Copying the works of others on the Internet and social media
is probably the most prominently noticed action in my opinion. Intellectual properties
laws are placed to protect are rights to the works we produce or publish. I’ve
noticed pictures on Facebook being used by several different people. Believe it
or not this is a possible copyright issue depending on if the person or
business has it copyright protected. First I’d like to tell you that the
copyright symbol doesn’t have to be included in someone’s work in order for it
to be copyrighted. The best way to not get in trouble in this matter is to get
permission from the creator before posting it on your blog or Facebook. Always
give credit to the original author of the content you would like to share. Be
careful when placing photos on your blog or Facebook page; make sure you use a
site that is public domain with free images.
I hope you enjoyed reading this useful information about the
widely used Web 2.0 applications. If you are a business or a person who is
looking to pursue blogging or social media I highly suggest getting this book. There is so much information in this book and
I barely scratched the surface in this book report. Check the laws in your
state on online publications because they vary from State to State. After
reading this book you do some research for yourself and go to all the different
laws and analyze them further to protect yourself and business from any form of
future lawsuit. I also suggest getting legal advice from an actually lawyer who
specializes in these matters to discuss the future ventures of your business.
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