Giovanna Di Sauro

This is the second and last part of a series of posts aimed at helping you (and me) write a proper blog disclaimer. In the first post I listed some useful resources, and explained why anyone writing a blog needs a blog disclaimer, no matter what topic you are writing about. In this second section, I will propose a general blog disclaimer template that can possibly be used by anyone out there needing to write one.

I am going to provide an explanation of the main points your disclaimer needs to cover, and then write up a template. If you are very impatient, you can jump off to the template right away.

Here are the main points the disclaimer needs to address, in no particular order:

1. You will need either two separate disclaimers, or one disclaimers but including a section regarding comments. In fact, if your blog is moderated (and that is usually the case) you might be held responsible for what other people have written on your blog. Think of it in this terms: if you owned a newspaper, and you allowed a columnist to continually address a certain ethnic group in a manner that is considered illegal, would you be liable? Yes, you would. Although the law is still quite ambiguous when it comes to blogging, you should consider yourself as a publisher and editor, who is therefore responsible for the quality and legality of everything being published – whether you agree with it or not. However, you should not be held liable if the commenter is committing a crime and you are simply not aware of it.
2. You might want to include some “Terms of use” in this disclaimer, or even consider the disclaimer as a series of sections within a Terms of Use Agreement. When readers use the blog, they agree that the blog comes with no guarantees, and that the content might contain errors. You also want to say something about your abilities and how these affect (or not) the content of the blog (see point 4). They also agree not to use the content (images, files, text – be specific) without your express consent – and if they do that, they will become exposed to legal action.
3. As you are probably “moonlighting” as a blogger, you have to make sure that it is made extremely clear that everything you write is simply your opinion, and not the one of your employer.
4. You need to think of your “clout”: are you a doctor writing about health? Are you a business owner writing about business? Then you have to make it extremely clear that you are not acting as a professional, but as a simple individual. That is, anything you write, and any advice you give, is not being given as a doctor or businessman, but as an individual.
5. Now think of the reach of your blog. If you own a newspaper, you will be writing in a certain language, and catering to a (more or less) local audience. But as a blogger, your blog is potentially accessible from the whole world. However, you do use a certain language, and somehow cater to a certain audience. This implies that you need to make it clear that:
   • You are writing in language A (and B, and C…) only.
   • You are not responsible for any misunderstandings and controversy arising because the reader is not fluent with language A/B/C.
   • If you are writing in language A, but you are not a native speaker, you might also want to mention that, and again remind the audience that sometimes misunderstandings may arise because of this, and that they might not be intentional.
6. Consider that commenters may be writing from countries where what they write is illegal – while, say, it is not in the one you are currently located. You need to clarify that you are based in country A, and that what you are writing might or might not infringe laws in other countries. At the same time, you are not responsible for comments that break the law somewhere else, and not where you are (how are you supposed to know that anyway?).
7. Even with all this, there might be issues that legal representatives or individuals want to raise about the content of your blog. You need to explicitly ask these people to contact you (by e-mail, snail mail, or however you like) in person before bringing forth any legal action. For example, if you write about research articles, you might be asked to pull something down from time to time…
8. This brings us to the part where you need to know where you stand in terms of copyright/fair use. This has to be mentioned somewhere in your disclaimer. Of course, if Fair use does not exist in the country where you are, you will not be able to write that – so you need to enquire as to what the law concerning copyright allows you to do: for example, if you are in Canada or another Commonwealth country, you will need to be familiar with Fair dealing. You have to cover these points:
   • Images and text are under X.X Creative Commons License, or completely (C)author, unless when it is mentioned otherwise. All logos and trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
   • It is the responsibility of the commenters not to infringe copyright in comments.
   • If you are writing about/publishing something that is copyrighted, you need to mention that you are doing it under a “fair use” provision.
9. Something about your content (whatever that is) must be said. More specifically, you will need to mention these points:
   • Content validity: the content might contain errors and not be completely up to date. Errors, when pointed out, might not be corrected immediately.
   • Links: you are not responsible for the content of websites you are linking to (they should have their own disclaimer, don’t you think?).
   • Make it explicit (funny or not, but explicit) that you do not mean to harm, or encourage to harm, anybody. Also, remind your readers that you do not mean to libel/offend anybody, and that they can freely disagree with you – all you write is simply your opinion.
   • Are you advertising for products? Are you writing reviews and getting paid for it? You should disclose this in your disclaimer.
10. Does your blog have multiple users? Who owns it anyway? Mention this, and remind your readers that you are not responsible for what other users are writing. As a suggestion, you might want a company to own a multiuser blog, or if you own it, get them to sign agreements where they state that they are assuming responsibility for all they are writing, and that they indemnify you.
11. Let’s say that you did write a good disclaimer, but somebody with money and time in their hands decides to sue you anyway. When this happens, they will try to attack your finances. Therefore, your blog disclaimer also needs to mention the limits of your financial liability.
12. You want people to read your disclaimer, and to feel that you are approachable to solve controversies. So make the disclaimer legible…and make sure to run a spell check AND proofread it very well. If you are not a “lone poor blogger” but you are working on a company blog, or even blog for a living, you might want to consider having a lawyer go through the disclaimer and fix any holes for you.

I think I managed to address most (if not all) of the important points. We can now move on to the template. Remember, I am not a legal expert, and a template needs to be modified (words and all) for your individual needs. So if you use my template and somebody sues you…well, you are still responsible for your own disclaimer!

If you need other resources, or you are just too lazy to read the other post…here are a few useful links:

• Writing a blog disclaimer (The Blog Herald)
• Herche’s Blog Disclaimer (legal redux)
• How to Write a Blog Disclaimer? (Websites Made Simple)

Anyway, here it comes. Change the italics/highlighted parts with your name or the name of your blog, and with different wording, whichever is suitable. You are hereby authorized to use and modify this template, at no cost to you, as long as you post a link back to this page from your blog. Any comments about the template, and suggestions for improvements, are welcome – just write a comment.

Happy (and safe) blogging!

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GIOVANNA DI SAURO’S BLOG TERMS OF USE

PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY THESE TERMS OF USE BEFORE READING, COMMENTING ON, DOWNLOADING, COPYING, REPRODUCING, ALTERING MATERIALS OF ANY KIND, SUBSCRIBING TO, AND LINKING TO (COLLECTIVELY “USING”) THIS BLOG. USING THIS BLOG INDICATES THAT YOU ACCEPT THESE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS OF USE, PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS BLOG.

Introduction. This agreement (”Agreement“) between You and Giovanna Di Sauro (”the Author“) consists of these Giovanna Di Sauro’s Blog (the “the Blog“) Terms of Use (”Terms“). “You“, “Reader” or “Commenter” means any entity identified by its comments, e-mail, registration information or IP address. If You use this Blog on behalf of your employer, organization or company, they shall also be bound by the terms of this Agreement.

Privacy. When You leave a comment, the Author is automatically notified and receives IP, WHOIS, and e-mail information pertaining to the Commenter. This information is not stored by the Author for other purposes than to moderate comments. This information is not being sold or used for other purposes. If you have concerns with the way this information is used, please contact the Author directly to arrange for complete removal of this information. Removal of all personal information will result in the removal of any content the Commenter might have contributed to this Blog, including comments. This Blog is hosted in British Columbia, Canada. Be aware that laws regarding personal information and privacy may differ from Your location.

Blog content. All the contents of the Blog, EXCEPT FOR COMMENTS, constitute the opinion of the Author, and the Author alone; they do not represent the views and opinions of the Author’s employers, supervisors, nor do they represent the view of organizations, businesses or institutions the Author is a part of. The Author is not a medical professional, and you should never substitute information from this Blog for information obtained from a licensed medical professional; always consult your doctor before using any prescription, drugs, supplements, or undergoing any treatments. This Blog is entirely written in English; however, this is the Author’s second language. The content of this Blog is not intended to cause harm, but if You have any concerns about the contents of this Blog, please contact the Author. Disagreeing with the content of the Blog does not constitute sufficient ground for You to ask the Author to remove or modify any parts of this Blog. The Author is not being paid to write content on this Blog or to manage and in any way operate this Blog.

Copyright policy. All the text, images and other content being part of this Blog is property of the Author, unless noted otherwise. All logos and trademarks are property of their respective owners. You are not allowed to reproduce, sell, and modify any part of this Blog. You are welcome to link to this blog, and to discuss its contents in a respectful manner. When You quote or link to this Blog, please include the Blog’s name in your link. You are not authorized to use this content for personal profit. UNAUTHORIZED COPYING, REPRODUCTION, MODIFICATION, REPUBLISHING, UPLOADING, POSTING, TRANSMITTING OR DUPLICATING OF ANY OF THE MATERIAL IS PROHIBITED. Whenever copyrighted material is mentioned or use, the Author is doing so according to fair dealing practices. Use of material from this Blog according to fair dealing practices requires proper acknowledgment. Simply linking back to the Blog is not considered proper acknowledgment; please provide a link including the Author’s name, the name of the page you are linking, and a permanent link (”Permalink“) to that page.

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Changes to the Terms. The Author reserves the right to change these Terms at any time. You will only be notified by the Blog through posts or syndicated content (RSS), NOT IN PERSON. It is Your responsibility to make sure that you agree with the new Terms, whenever changes have been announced. Changes to the Terms will be effective 48 hours after the notice has been posted on the Blog. If You do not agree with the Terms, DO NOT USE THIS BLOG.

No Guarantee. The Author makes no guarantee regarding the validity of the content of the Blog. In addition, the Author does not guarantee that the Blog will be accessible at all times or during any down time (i) caused by outages to any public Internet backbones, networks or servers, (ii) caused by any failures of Your equipment, systems or local access services, (iii) for previously scheduled maintenance or (iv) relating to events beyond the Author’s control such as strikes, riots, fires, floods, explosions, war, terrorism, governmental action, labor conditions, natural and/or man-made disasters, or interruptions in Internet services to an area where the Author or Your servers are located. Although the Author will try to moderate comments quickly, the Author makes no guarantee to the Commenter that its comments or trackbacks will be displayed promptly, without modifications, or that they will be displayed at all, as all comments will be published to the discretion of the Author.

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