Because it is not enjoyable and most bloggers give up on attempting to comprehend it, the legal aspect of blogging is often overlooked.  For this reason, I have created this legal guidance for bloggers to assist you in adhering to the law and avoiding legal issues.

Our close buddy Amira, a blogger from ASelfGuru.com and a lawyer, has contributed a fantastic guest piece today.

I appreciate Kelan and Brittany letting me prepare a legal handbook for bloggers that covers the six laws you need to be aware of while blogging.

Here is my entertaining legal disclaimer before we begin:
Disclaimer: I am not YOUR lawyer, even though I am a lawyer by trade.  This post is purely educational and informative in nature; it does not provide legal advice or create a client-attorney relationship of any type.  Any damages that arise from or are connected to your use of this material are not my responsibility.

1.  Laws for Blogs and Privacy Policies
First and foremost, the privacy rules that affect you and your online company should worry you as a blogger.  To be in compliance with the law, your blog has to have a privacy policy.
The need of a privacy policy is so great that, regardless of where you live, you are required by law to have one on your site.
The California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA), the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union, the Data Protection Act (DPA) of the United Kingdom, the Privacy Act of 1988 in Australia, and several more laws are examples of privacy policy legislation.
I won't bore you with every law's specifics, so don't worry.  However, bloggers should be aware that if you gather any personal information from your website visitors, you must have a good Privacy Policy on your website in order to comply with the regulations.
Nearly all bloggers get some kind of personal data from their readers, whether it's to expand their email list or, for example, to market a product or service.
You are most likely still gathering personal data from people even if you are not making money off of your site.
For instance, you have now gathered my personal information—in this case, my name and email address—if I subscribe to your blog.
In a similar vein, you have already obtained my name, email address, billing and/or shipping address, credit card information, and other details if I buy anything from you.
As an additional example, if your website makes use of Google Analytics, you too employ cookies to gather visitor data.
Similar to this, because you now utilize cookies to monitor visitor browsing history and information, you must state in your Privacy Policy whether you use Google Adsense adverts on your site.
You may be gathering the following types of personal data from your blog:
           Names  
           Email address
           Details of a credit card
           Address
           Telephone number
           Birthdate

What a Privacy Policy Is For
Everyone is entitled to privacy.  The law requires that your site include a privacy policy that tells readers about several crucial matters, including:
What private data do you get from them?
Your rationale for gathering the personal data
How are you going to utilize the personal data?
When are you going to reveal the personal data?
How is personal information protected?
How can the privacy of children be protected?
Cookies used on your blog
Visitor rights and GDPR compliance
In what ways do you adhere to the CAN-SPAM Act?
And a lot more!

Lawsuit for Privacy Policy
Every day, lawsuits are filed against online companies for failing to have an appropriate privacy policy on their website.  Having a privacy policy on your blog is not enough; you also need to be sure that it protects you legally and conforms with the law.
When internet businesses breach consumer privacy rules, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) often files litigation against them.  Google and Facebook are the most recent examples; both have been sued for privacy infringement.
To make matters worse, you are subject to the GDPR whether or not you are a member of the European Union.
It's a privacy regulation designed to make sure that EU residents' personal data is handled properly. Violations of the rule may result in penalties of up to 20 million euros or 4% of annual turnover, whichever is higher.

How to Draft a Privacy Policy for Your Blog
You are aware by now that in order to guarantee your compliance with privacy regulations, a thorough and well-written privacy policy must address several significant legal issues.
You're in luck because I've done all the work and created a privacy policy for you!  Instead of attempting to compose the legalese yourself, you may download my template here.
mimic tablet screen displaying your website's privacy policy template
Trust the attorney with the legal matters to assist you in adhering to the many laws and regulations, just as you would a doctor for health advice.

A Lawful Bundle for Your Website
My best-selling lawful Bundle will assist you with all you need to maintain your blog lawful since you need much more than just a privacy policy (we will go into the specifics below).
fake tablet screen displaying your website's legal package
It includes nine goodies in addition to the three legal blog pages you need!  –
The template for your privacy policy
Your template for a disclaimer or disclosure
Your template for terms and conditions
Hundreds of blogs have already benefited from my Legal Bundle, so if you are squandering time attempting to create these legal pages on your own, stop, unwind, and let the Legal Bundle do it for you!
It's really simple to modify, and you'll have all of your legal documents finished in a matter of minutes!  See the amazing testimonies here.
2.  Copyright Law for Blogs

A federal legislation known as copyright law protects the creators of unique creative works in material form, including:
Writings, such as your blog entries
            Images
            Music
            Art
            Videos
            Books
sketches, blueprints, etc.
Since copyright law is such a broad field of law that I could write a full book on it, I will simply discuss it in relation to blogging.
Your original work is immediately protected by copyright, which means it is protected as soon as it is created.  The U.S. does not need registration.  To get this protection, contact the Copyright Office.
If you would want to register your work with the Copyright Office in Washington, DC, you will need to submit copies of your work to them along with a registration form and payment.
If you want to be able to file lawsuits for copyright infringement and demand statutory damages for the infractions, copyright registration is advantageous.
The goal of copyright legislation
The goal of copyright law is to promote creative and intellectual output while protecting your work and enabling you to make money off of it.  You have the legal right to limit who may use your work.
Under copyright law, you have certain rights and protections as the owner of your creative work:
The ability to copy and replicate your protected work
The ability to sell and share your work to the general public
The ability to produce adaptations, also referred to as "derivative works,"
The freedom to perform and exhibit your work in public

You have the right to sue someone who improperly utilizes your copyrighted content without your consent in order to recover any damages.
Utilizing the Copyright Symbol
To notify people that your work was protected by copyright prior to March 1, 1989, you had to include the copyright symbol in a legitimate copyright notice.
However, because the regulations changed, you are no longer required to provide this notice for any works published after March 1, 1989.
This is due to the fact that your work is automatically secured from the moment it is generated, as was previously mentioned.
Nevertheless, for a few reasons, it's still a good idea to include a legitimate copyright notice:
It lets others know that your work is protected by copyright.
If you want to sue the offender for copyright infringement, they cannot claim they were unaware that your work was protected by copyright.
A suitable copyright notice on your blog should include the following information:
Use the term "copyright," the copyright symbol ©, or the abbreviation "copr" (though it isn't as often used).
The year of publication
The name of the corporation or copyright owner
A rights declaration like "All rights reserved"
Your copyright notice should look like this, for instance: © 2019 The Savvy Couple.  All rights reserved.
You've probably seen this in every blog's footer area.  Although it is not required by law, using "All rights reserved" alerts people that your material is protected by copyright.

Violation of Copyright Never replicate someone else's writing or any other piece of art without their consent or due credit.
If you don't want to be prosecuted for copyright infringement and suffer harsh legal repercussions, you should never steal or duplicate someone else's blog entries, photos, or anything else that isn't yours.
When someone replicates your work, what should you do?
You ought to do these two actions:
Send the offending party a stop and desist letter or email requesting that your copyrighted work be taken down as soon as you are certain there has been a copyright violation.
You must file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Takedown notice to the infringer's Internet hosting provider, search engines, etc. if, after delivering the stop and desist letter, your copyrighted work is still not deleted.
Please feel free to use my free stop and desist template, which I have created hundreds of times throughout my legal career.
Aselfguru.com offers a free stop and desist letter template for copyright infringement.
You may choose to sue instead of sending this notification, but lawsuits are costly and time-consuming!
Furthermore, bringing a lawsuit won't assist if your copyright isn't registered.  Before you could bring a copyright infringement case, you would need to register your copyright.
Therefore, before employing a lawyer to bring a lawsuit on your behalf, it is much more cost-effective to attempt to address the legal matter in this manner.
The stop and desist letter will often be effective, saving you the time and expense of hiring an attorney.

3.  Terms & Conditions for the Blog
When it comes to litigation, no one wants to be involved!  However, putting appropriate terms and conditions on your blog from the start can protect you in the event that you are sued! A sample tablet screen displaying your website's terms and conditions template
The majority of bloggers are unaware of this until they are sued!  (after the fact).  Since you didn't set up your internet company correctly from the start, the lawyer isn't able to do anything for you at that time.
What you accept and don't allow on your blog is outlined in your terms and conditions, sometimes referred to as your terms of use and terms of service.
Having them on your blog is crucial for many legal reasons, including:
To describe the permissible uses of your blog
To stop someone from using your blog
To describe your exchange and refund procedures for the goods or services you provide
To specify the location and method of resolving legal issues
Outlining your intellectual property rights in order to stop copyright violations
Your blog must include comprehensive Terms and Conditions that safeguard both you and your internet company.
You will see that I offer a Terms and Conditions template in addition to three goodies in my very low-cost Legal Bundle!
You may just download the Terms and Conditions template here if your blog only lacks the Terms and Conditions page and you already have the Privacy Policy and Disclaimer legal pages.
4.  Defamation Lawsuit for a Blog
You must use caution while writing about other people as a blogger.  Defamation is one of the laws you should be aware of.
Publishing a false remark about someone that damages their reputation is known as defamation.
Defamation comes in two forms:
1) Slander: this is the verbal defamation of another person, such as in audiobooks, films, podcasts, etc.
2) Libel is the act of disparaging someone in writing, such as in blog entries, comments, etc.
Let's take an example where you post a false remark about your competition that damages the credibility, solvency, integrity, or credit of their firm.  You could now face a slander lawsuit!
Check out this recent Florida case where a blogger was sued for almost $15,000 in defamation damages!
The lesson is that in order for whatever you post to defame someone, it must be a false assertion.
5.  Disclaimers for the Blog

Disclaimers must have been all around you.  For an example, see my legal disclaimer above.  Websites often utilize disclaimers to shield the company from legal action.
It serves as a defense against legal responsibility.
For instance, if you run a health blog with medical content, you have probably seen a disclaimer urging readers to seek medical advice.  This is to emphasize that a doctor's advise cannot be replaced by the medical material on the website.
Your blog should have the proper disclaimers to let visitors know that the content you provide is based on your own thoughts rather than facts.
This kind of disclaimer also helps shield you from claims of slander.
Although having a disclaimer on your website does not guarantee that you won't be sued, it is likely that it will act as an affirmative defense and strengthen your case before a judge or jury.
Disclaimers are also necessary to safeguard you from anything you post on your blog from third-party websites.  Just because you share those affiliate links on your website doesn't mean you'll be held accountable for what other websites post.
As bloggers, we include links to various third-party websites on our site, including affiliate items that we endorse.
Thus, be sure to include a disclaimer on your site at all times!
dummy tablet screen displaying your website's disclaimer template
My really simple Disclaimer template, along with all the necessary legalese, is available here!
6.  Blog Disclosures Regarding Sponsorships and Affiliate Links
A lot of bloggers mistake a disclosure for a disclaimer.  Both of them are unique.  As previously mentioned, a disclaimer is where you "deny" any legal responsibility for the information you post on your site.
To help your readers make educated choices, you should disclose any affiliate partnerships, sponsorships, and any other endorsements on your site.
In addition to protecting consumer rights, the FTC requires you to declare any affiliate ties you have with the items you promote, as well as any other sponsorships and endorsements, in order to maintain honesty, openness, and avoid deceptive advertising.
The majority of bloggers are product affiliates.  We have all tried other people's items that we love and promote, so this is rather normal.
If someone buys anything using your affiliate link, you are paid as an affiliate and earn a commission.
However, you must let your readers know that you have financial ties to other businesses, and that if someone buys anything from your affiliate link, you will get commissions, money, or other incentives.
An affiliate disclosure has to be:
It is prominently shown.
It has to be near your affiliate link.
Not obscured by images, writing, or other objects
Your writing must be comprehensible and straightforward for your audience.
In a similar vein, you must declare sponsored content on your site in accordance with the previously mentioned guidelines.  Otherwise, you run the danger of receiving a fine from the FTC, as does the sponsored firm.
Never forget to declare any rewards you get for publishing anything, whether cash or free merchandise.  This will protect you from litigation and guarantee fair, moral business operations.
Take advantage of my Legal Bundle if you need assistance.  The affiliate disclosures, sponsored post disclaimer, and other disclaimers you need on your site to protect yourself legally are already included in my disclaimer template.