Creating a blog is one thing. Managing it is another. It’s easier to develop a blog from scratch than maintaining one. You need to consider many things to ensure your blog’s survival. One of which is its legal side.
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Unfortunately, many neglect its importance because it’s hard to understand. Trust us — reading long texts of laws and regulations is no fun.
This guide, however, solves just that. We’ll help you comply with the law so you’ll stay out of legal trouble.
Privacy Policy
The law requires all websites, including blogs, to have a privacy policy. Everyone has a right to privacy. However, most blogs tend to go overboard. They usually get information from other people.
This even happens without you knowing it. A privacy policy tells visitors what information you’re collecting from them. It also shows the reason for collection. It also informs others how the information will be used. This is important, especially that your site automatically uses cookies.
Copyright Law
Getting copyright protection is necessary to keep your content from being plagiarized. The copyright law does just that. It protects an author’s original creation, such as articles, photos, videos, and music.
This is very important especially that these works are usually seen in blogs. You can also profit from the law as you gain control on how you want it to be reused by other people. You can even sue anyone who misuses your copyrighted material. You can then ask for compensation for the losses.
Never copy or re-use anyone’s work without giving proper credit or seeking permission from the author.
Terms and Conditions
Nobody wants to get lawsuits. But if you do get one for your blog, then your best protection would come from your terms and conditions. They are your website rules which discuss which are allowed and aren’t allowed on your blog.
You need to have one to protect yourself and your online business. Terms and conditions explain refund processes and policies of your content.
It also explains the process of resolving legal disputes, as well as prevents anyone from using your blog without permission. Having thorough terms and conditions prevents copyright infringement.
The last thing you want is for your enemies to find loopholes on your blog. Avoid this from happening by having terms and conditions. It’s a great way to prepare for worst-case scenarios.
You can also translate these legal documents on your blog to the language of your readers. This way, they’ll understand how your blog works.
Disclaimers
Disclaimers protect you from legal liability as it clears things out. They make it clear to readers that your content is personal opinions, not facts. You need disclaimers for protection against defamation lawsuits.
This is important for blogs as you usually express your own ideas based on your reaction to facts. Blogs don’t necessarily convey factual data as it functions as an outlet for writers’ opinions.
However, it doesn’t mean that you won’t get sued if you have one. Instead, there’s a good chance you can defend your blog because you have a disclaimer. You also don’t want to be responsible for content websites publish based on your blog.
This is especially important if you’re sharing affiliate links. In an interconnected world, it’s vital to have protection for your individual rights.
Taxes for self-employment
Blogs aren’t just a hobby. For many, it’s also a source of income. If this is the case, then it’s a legitimate business and you need to comply with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You might be your own boss, but even that comes with added responsibility.
Pay healthcare and social security taxes from the profits you earn from your blog. These are called self-employment or SE taxes. Blogs earning $400 or more annually are required to pay these taxes.
Thus, it’s important to have general knowledge in keeping track of your finances. Learn basic accounting and financial management to not have any legal problem. It might be boring and tedious at first, but it’s very useful in the long run.
Also, pay taxes on time so you won’t get penalized, or worse, have your blog shut down!
Conclusion
Dealing with legal troubles is a big hassle. Not only does this waste your time and energy, but this can also lower your blog conversions. However, you can avoid this from happening by knowing the laws regarding blogging.
Ignorance of the law excuses no one, including bloggers. Thus, it’s best to spend time understanding all these rules even if they seem boring. Doing so will safeguard your blog’s interest, and could make your blog more credible.
Also, in your research, you may stumble upon tools that allow you to generate Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions pages for your blog.
While using them is ideal because they generate the documents in seconds, there’s no replacement to actual legal advice and counsel in creating these pages on your blog.
Therefore, if you want to be safe and keep your blog from getting into legal troubles, you need to consult professional advice and counsel regarding these blogging laws.
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