Guide to Media Law Launched for Online Media Creators

The new Citizen Media Legal Guide focuses on the legal issues that non-traditional and traditional journalists are likely to encounter as they gather information and publish their work online. Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, this free online resource is intended for use by bloggers, website operators, and other citizen media creators.

“Because many online publishers don’t have a background in media law, we have tried to make the guide as approachable as possible and included dozens of practical tips for avoiding legal liability,” said David Ardia, director of the Citizen Media Law Project (CMLP), the group that created the guide.

Based at Harvard University’s Berkman Center, the CMLP is an initiative to provide legal assistance, education, and resources for citizen media and to study the impact of law on online journalism.

The legal guide covers the 15 most populous U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and it is divided into six major sections:

* Forming a Business and Getting Online
* Dealing with Online Legal Risks
* Newsgathering and Privacy
* Access to Government Information
* Intellectual Property
* Risks Associated with Publication

For more information on the entities who collaborated on this project, please visit the links below:

Citizen Media Law Project

Berkman Center for Internet & Society

Center for Citizen Media

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation