Session on Legal situation for Bloggers / community websites?

[Hugh Flouch]

The issue of where local websites and blogs stand with libel and
copyright laws has execrised a lot of concern amongst the lcoal online
community in the UK and overseas. We've had conversations about this
issue with a few folk leading up to our event. Philip John of the
Lichfield blog has said he's keen to be involved in a session on this
issue and Mike Slocombe of Brixton-based Urban 75 has promised us
great stories about CentrePoint and the Scientologists.

[Giles Gibson]

Yup, we are in the middle of a silly issue. Just had one user complain
that someone else had used their online name. Normal reaction would be
to say, sorry, first come first served. However, the aggrieved user
has in fact got a trademark for their login name as they write their
own blog etc and trade as a result. Original user now very fed up and
cannot see what the fuss is about.

Would appreciate some legal guidance etc.

On 1 Sep, 12:49, Hugh Flouch <hugh.flo...@networkedneighbourhoods.com>
wrote:

[JTownend]

I wish I could make it to the conference as this sounds like an
excellent idea for a session.

I've been running a survey, and I'm particularly keen to hear from
hyperlocals, about the legal experiences of UK-based online
publishers.

I'm closing it tonight, but before then, you can find it at:
http://bit.ly/medialawsurvey

I've set up a site, http://meejalaw.com, hosted on Journal Local, with
news, discussion and resources for online publishers.

I hope someone blogs from the session - I'd love to hear what comes
out of it.

[Sean Kelly]

We haven't had quite this kind of issue to deal with but in similar
situations the advice we have received has always been to try and get
the two parties to resolve it between themselves.

You could say to the person that if he takes legal action to enforce
his trademark claim you will suspend use of it by other users until
the claim is resolved. Failing that you are not in a position to
adjudicate the matter yourself so you can't take any action.

Our advice received is that this kind of response is sufficient to
protect you against any direct legal action. It should effectively
close the issue as far as you are concerned. Our experience is that in
90% of cases people threatening legal action don't follow through to
the point of actually going to speak to a solicitor about the matter.

Obvious disclaimer here that I don't have any legal qualifications and
the advice given to us may not be directly relevant or applicable to
your case despite my personal opinion that it might be.


Sean Kelly

Neighbour Net

On Sep 2, 2:06 pm, Giles Gibson <giles.gib...@originaltg.com> wrote:

> > great stories about CentrePoint and the Scientologists.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[william perrin]

we have put up a couple of general posts to help people in this area

http://talkaboutlocal.org.uk/copyright/

and

http://talkaboutlocal.org.uk/libel-defamation-keeping-it-legal/

links out extensively to plain english resources written by lawyers

just about the best legal advice, which very few follow is to set up a
limited company and keep the website inside that. then you don't lose
your house to a nutter under defamation law

cheers


w

[JTownend]

I have now published the results of my survey:

http://meejalaw.com/2010/09/17/online-law-survey-mixed-feelings-about-resources-27-respondents-encountered-legal-trouble-in-last-two-years/

19/71 small online publishers had been involved in legal trouble in
last two years. Of the 19, only 4 sought paid legal advice. There were
some really interesting points made about resources.
Talk About Local was mentioned by a couple of respondents.

I plan to continue looking into this area and would like to work with
hyperlocal publishers to campaign for access to courts data;
and draw attention to difficult issues.

I am sad that I will miss the LNO event - I hope it goes well and is
productive for you all

J




On Sep 21, 3:45 pm, william perrin <williamjper...@googlemail.com>
wrote:

[Mark Walker]

Hi Judith

fab stuff, thanks for sharing it and great to see people turning to organisations like Talk About local for help as well as the more established sources [and credit to Will for being there to help]

I can see a hyperlocal legal surgery emerging to run alongside the social media surgery... no doubt Nick has been running one in Birmingham for years?! ;-)

our network of brighton & hove community reporters is now starting to build and we know already that this is going to be a long-running issue for them

we include a basic overview and examples in the training we offer but as much as possible we make sure people are aware that:

a] there is a lot of confusion about this issue

b] they are not exempt 

c] when and how to get help

on the final point your research is really useful to provide signposts and examples of what to ask for when

it's also worth saying that in the context of the neighbourhood online unconference [which I can't make] I would expect to see different issues for the reporters we work with and the people who run the websites and offline publications that publish their stories - these range from community newsletters and blogs to the local newspaper. 

It would be interesting to see whether/how that difference emerges in the discussion this weekend.

thanks 

mark

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[JTownend]

Very interesting concept, Mark. Have written something along these
lines for the Online Journalism Blog - should go up soon. Since I
can't attend, it would be great to hear from someone at the legal
session about taking things forward and what sort of support network
could be initiated. Please do keep in touch.

> On 22 September 2010 19:51, JTownend <jt.town...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I have now published the results of my survey:
>

> >http://meejalaw.com/2010/09/17/online-law-survey-mixed-feelings-about...

> > LNO-unconference-Sept...@googlegroups.com<LNO-unconference-September-2010%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>

> > For more options, visit this group at
> >http://groups.google.com/group/LNO-unconference-September-2010
>
> --
> Mark Walker
> Project Manager and South East Regional ICT Champion
> SCIP | IT Services for Charities and Communities

> *Hardware, Software, IT Support, Websites, Databases, Training, Consultancy
> & Advice*

>
> Community Base, Queens Road, Brighton BN1 3XG
> Tel: 01273 234049   Mobile: 07956 627116

> Email: mark.wal...@scip.org.uk   Web:www.scip.org.uk
> Web:www.seictchampion.org.uk

[Philip John]

I've published a blog post with a few links to a whole host of good
legal resources: http://bit.ly/lno10-legal