What Legal Rules Are Applicable to Blogs?
Together with Wim Schreurs I have written an article about blogging and the legal rules applicable to blogs. We provide a short overview of legal blogs (“blawgs”) in Flanders and Wallonia (Belgium), the Netherlands, France, Germany and the USA. We also give an overview of the “laws to be kept in mind”. The article was published in Ad Rem, 2005, nr. 5, 38-45. Ad Rem is the official journal of the Flemish Bar Association and is distributed among the more than 8.400 lawyers registered in this association. The full text (written in Dutch) is available on the website of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and Information Technology ICRI (pdf). Hyperlinks in the present blog post refer mostly to sources in English.
For lawyers one thing is sure: a lot of your clients have their own blogs or read blogs. For this reason alone it is interesting to know what a blog is, and what legal rules could be applicable to them. The overview in our article can come in handy when creating your own blog, or when a client seeks your legal advice related to blogging. We also write about the following issues: What is a blog? What legal blogs and law blogs, often called “blawgs”, are there? What are the advantages of a blog for your own law firm? Is it useful for clients or potential clients?
Which legal rules are applicable to blogs?
Our article in Ad Rem is only a short overview of the Belgian and European Union law. We discuss the following topics: copyright, deeplinking, databases, creative commons, trade mark, domain name, freedom of expression, professional secret, right to anonymity. We also refer to some lawsuits against bloggers, such as Pessers vs. Lycos, Bodil Linqvist vs. Kingdom of Sweden. (The recent decision by the Flemish Media Commission to impose a fine on podcaster Jurgen Verstrepen is not included because it was only made after the publication of our article). We refer to the deontological rules of the attorney, and raise the question whether the author of a blog is a publisher or a content provider as described in the legislation on electronic commerce? Or is he a journalist who can invoke the privilege to protect confidential sources? Is the author of a blog liable for comments left on his blog by a third party?
For some aspects of the applicable legislation in the USA, the Netherlands, France, Germany, click here. For the Netherlands, please also read the FAQ-overview (in Dutch) by Arnoud Engelfriet "Legaal bloggen - juridische valkuilen voor weblogs". The legislation is often very similar in the member states of the European Union. A legal guide for bloggers living in the USA can be found on the EFF-site.
Short overview of legal blogs
United States of America
The Americans were the pioneers in legal blogging. The book BlawgWorld 2006: Capital of Big Ideas, published by TechnoLawyer, lists the 51 most important legal blogs in the US and Canada. Below are a few good examples. Again: we can’t mention all of them here.
Academics:
Glenn Reynolds
Eugene Volokh
Lawrence Lessig
Jurist (Bernard Hibbitts and his students)
Judges:
The Becker-Posner Blog
Lawyers (attorneys):
See also BlawgThink 2005!
Ernie the Attorney
the [non]billable hour. changing professional practice one idea at a time
Lawfirmblogging
Company lawyers:
InhouseBlog by Geoffrey G. Gussis, who shares his experience as an attorney and a company lawyer and offers useful information for everyday legal practice.
Flanders, Wallonia (Belgium)
The number of legal blogs is very limited. Here they are:
ICRI (Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and Information Technology, KU Leuven)
Law & Justice
Ba-blog, the blog of Barend Blondé
Journal du Marché intérieur. L'actualité politique et juridique de l'Union européenne
DroitBelge.Net
Sites internet et Blogs de Léon Dochy, notaire honoraire à Pecq
The Netherlands
The number of legal blogs is very limited.
Wieringa Advocaten
Solv Advocaten
Advocatenportaal Advocatie.nl
JuroFoon Journaal
Germany
There are a lot of legal blogs in Germany. Here are just some examples:
JuraBlogs (overview of German legal blogs)
Handakte WebLAWg
Jurabilis
Lawblog.de
France
French legal bloggers are numerous.
Le Répertoire des blogs juridiques (overview of French legal blogs)
Avocat Blog
Doc en vrac
ServiceDoc.Info – Juriblog
update 23/02/06: a blogging French judge at Justice à l'écoute, Philippe Bilger, Avocat Général près la cour d'appel de Paris
Worldwide
A worldwide overview, inevitably incomplete, of legal blogs and law related blogs can be found on the excellent Blawg.org by Bill Gratsch.
Discussion groups
There are two known discussion groups. The first is Blawgers on Google Groups (in English) and the second is (in French) Droit-blogs · Groupe des blogs juridiques on Yahoo.
For lawyers one thing is sure: a lot of your clients have their own blogs or read blogs. For this reason alone it is interesting to know what a blog is, and what legal rules could be applicable to them. The overview in our article can come in handy when creating your own blog, or when a client seeks your legal advice related to blogging. We also write about the following issues: What is a blog? What legal blogs and law blogs, often called “blawgs”, are there? What are the advantages of a blog for your own law firm? Is it useful for clients or potential clients?
Which legal rules are applicable to blogs?
Our article in Ad Rem is only a short overview of the Belgian and European Union law. We discuss the following topics: copyright, deeplinking, databases, creative commons, trade mark, domain name, freedom of expression, professional secret, right to anonymity. We also refer to some lawsuits against bloggers, such as Pessers vs. Lycos, Bodil Linqvist vs. Kingdom of Sweden. (The recent decision by the Flemish Media Commission to impose a fine on podcaster Jurgen Verstrepen is not included because it was only made after the publication of our article). We refer to the deontological rules of the attorney, and raise the question whether the author of a blog is a publisher or a content provider as described in the legislation on electronic commerce? Or is he a journalist who can invoke the privilege to protect confidential sources? Is the author of a blog liable for comments left on his blog by a third party?
For some aspects of the applicable legislation in the USA, the Netherlands, France, Germany, click here. For the Netherlands, please also read the FAQ-overview (in Dutch) by Arnoud Engelfriet "Legaal bloggen - juridische valkuilen voor weblogs". The legislation is often very similar in the member states of the European Union. A legal guide for bloggers living in the USA can be found on the EFF-site.
Short overview of legal blogs
United States of America
The Americans were the pioneers in legal blogging. The book BlawgWorld 2006: Capital of Big Ideas, published by TechnoLawyer, lists the 51 most important legal blogs in the US and Canada. Below are a few good examples. Again: we can’t mention all of them here.
Academics:
Glenn Reynolds
Eugene Volokh
Lawrence Lessig
Jurist (Bernard Hibbitts and his students)
Judges:
The Becker-Posner Blog
Lawyers (attorneys):
See also BlawgThink 2005!
Ernie the Attorney
the [non]billable hour. changing professional practice one idea at a time
Lawfirmblogging
Company lawyers:
InhouseBlog by Geoffrey G. Gussis, who shares his experience as an attorney and a company lawyer and offers useful information for everyday legal practice.
Flanders, Wallonia (Belgium)
The number of legal blogs is very limited. Here they are:
ICRI (Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and Information Technology, KU Leuven)
Law & Justice
Ba-blog, the blog of Barend Blondé
Journal du Marché intérieur. L'actualité politique et juridique de l'Union européenne
DroitBelge.Net
Sites internet et Blogs de Léon Dochy, notaire honoraire à Pecq
The Netherlands
The number of legal blogs is very limited.
Wieringa Advocaten
Solv Advocaten
Advocatenportaal Advocatie.nl
JuroFoon Journaal
Germany
There are a lot of legal blogs in Germany. Here are just some examples:
JuraBlogs (overview of German legal blogs)
Handakte WebLAWg
Jurabilis
Lawblog.de
France
French legal bloggers are numerous.
Le Répertoire des blogs juridiques (overview of French legal blogs)
Avocat Blog
Doc en vrac
ServiceDoc.Info – Juriblog
update 23/02/06: a blogging French judge at Justice à l'écoute, Philippe Bilger, Avocat Général près la cour d'appel de Paris
Worldwide
A worldwide overview, inevitably incomplete, of legal blogs and law related blogs can be found on the excellent Blawg.org by Bill Gratsch.
Discussion groups
There are two known discussion groups. The first is Blawgers on Google Groups (in English) and the second is (in French) Droit-blogs · Groupe des blogs juridiques on Yahoo.
posted by Edwin Jacobs at 22:03
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