The Internet may still feel something like the Wild West, but there are US laws enacted and interpreted that affect its use.  There can be legal issues associated with any form of marketing. Web marketing has copyright, trademark infringement, CAN-SPAM Act, cybersquatting, false advertising, defamation issues and more.

Copyright: when you create content for your website or post on your blog, you are creating a copyright protected work. Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States.  Don’t use photos, video or website content from others without permission. Even if you credit the original author, there would still be copyright infringement.

Images: It is NOT OK to modify a copyrighted image and then call it your own. Modifying a work, say by cropping, coloring, distorting, enlarging, etc. is not a way around Copyright laws. It is OK to use royalty free photos. You are then licensed to use these photos and images and do not need to pay a royalty each time a photo is viewed.

Cybersquatting or domain squatting refers to registering, using or selling (with the intent to profit) someone else’s trademark. Cybersquatting complaints are usually resolved by filing a dispute with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) or by filing a court dispute. Courts can overrule ICANN decisions.

CAN-SPAM Act of 2003: This is short for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003. CAN-SPAM laws are meant to control junk email with rules enforced with fines to violators. Each email should allow an unsubscribe or opt out method.  Subject lines should accurately reflect the message and not mislead.

Related posts:

1. Free Copyright Licensing: Creative Commons
2. Spam, Splogs and Comment Spam
3. Keeping Emails out of the Junk Folder
4. Blog Comment Guidelines
5. Getting Your Email Through the Spam Filters