| Libel and slander are the two categories of defamation in the United States. In many states, courts have begun treating them the same as the only difference between the two is that libel is a false written statement about a person, place or thing that harms his/her/its reputation while slander is the verbal act of the same offense. Whether blogged on the internet or whispered offline to your mother, the common denominator is that what is said is false.
Now the internet contributes some interesting layers of complication to the whole blogging shebang. Instead of being enclosed in a localized area, libel has the potential to cross international borders and not every country handles these cases the same. For more details go to www.blog-and-ping.com. One of the major problems courts around the world have to deal with is the one of authority.
Whether or not you would be held responsible may come down to if you temperate your comments. If you allow comments to be posted automatically, you may be protected
Defamation is a tricky issue and one that needs to be stride carefully if one is to avoid landing in court. Here are a few tips to help keep you out of trouble.
1. Change the names. By far the easiest thing you can do is to change or to avoid using the name of the person you are talking about and to strip away as much identifying information as possible.
2. Make use of a disclaimer.
Even something as basic as “By making use of this blog site, you agree that the opinions expressed are the property and responsibility of their respective owners” may provide some defense in the event of a lawsuit. (Check with a real attorney please).
3. Consider writing your rant as a parody or satire. Extreme exaggerations that no sensible person would believe are not considered defamation because, quite frankly, they are unbelievable
4. Watch your language.
Be sure to use wording that makes it clear that this is your opinion about the subject.
5. And last but certainly not least, don’t tell false tales. Now this may seem like common sense but how common is common sense these days. For more information login to www.profit-pulling-toolbars.com. If you feel the need to resort to lying about a person, you may want to seek professional help in examining why you want to do that.
Blogging is a great way to meet people and stay current in the world and doing so responsibly will only make the experience better. Stay safe, stay sane and most of have fun. |
