Is Your Website Legal? How To Be Sure Your Website Won’t Get You Sued, Shut Down or in Other Trouble: Conversations

By Jacquelyn Lynn

In today's dynamic online environment, even the smallest of businesses can have complex, interactive websites. If those websites don't contain properly-crafted documents such as privacy notices, disclaimers and terms of use, or if they contain plagiarized, defamatory or unauthorized content, the site's owner is at risk of a lawsuit or worse. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

So what can you do to make sure your website is legal? Know what statements need to be on your site. Understand intellectual property rights, trademark and copyright issues. Build an email list that won't spam your audience.

Is Your Website Legal? is an edited version of Jacquelyn Lynn's conversation with small business attorney Suzanne D. Meehle, Meehle Law, about what you need to know and do to protect your website and your business.

At the end of the conversation, Suzanne D. Meehle shares her Legal Primer for Small Business Owners: 3 Must-Take Actions to Build a Strong Foundation for a Profitable Business.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TCS
• Release date: Nov 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9781941826065

Jacquelyn Lynn

Jacquelyn Lynn is an inspirational author, business writer and ghostwriter whose dynamic books and insightful articles have been inspiring individuals and helping business leaders work smarter and more profitably for nearly three decades. Her credits include writing or ghostwriting more than 30 books; 3,000+ articles in over 100 regional, national and international publications; and countless blogs, ebooks, newsletters, white papers, news releases, and more.

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Conversations

Is Your Website Legal?

How To Be Sure Your Website Won’t Get You Sued, Shut Down or in Other Trouble

A conversation with small business attorney Suzanne D. Meehle, Meehle Law

Jacquelyn Lynn

TUSCAWILLA CREATIVE SERVICES / WINTER SPRINGS, FL

Contents

Introduction

Understanding the Legal Issues that Affect Your Online Presence

Information You Should Include on Your Website

Intellectual Property Rights

Liability for Website Content

Protecting Your Site from Hackers

Who’s Watching You?

Email and Spam

Copyright and Trademark Notifications

Terms You Should Know

A Special Offer from Suzanne D. Meehle

A Gift from Jacquelyn Lynn

About Jacquelyn Lynn

Books by Jacquelyn Lynn

Introduction

When I first started blogging, it never occurred to me that someone might sue me for something that was on my website. I wasn’t trying to be controversial; I was simply publishing articles with business information that I thought would appeal to my clients and demonstrate the quality and style of my writing to prospective clients.

It wasn’t unusual for me to take a personal experience or a news event, share the story and extrapolate a business lesson in my posts. But when I did that about a Boston-based computer company’s major service failure, the owner filed a lawsuit demanding that I take the article down and pay him damages.

That situation was an adventure that lasted months and even generated several mentions in the Orlando Sentinel. Eventually he agreed to drop the suit and I agreed to remove his company’s name from my blog. I had truth on my side and, had we gone to court, probably would have won—but winning on principle wasn’t worth what it would have cost me in time, direct expenses (including travel to Boston) and lost revenue.

It was a valuable learning experience. It was also my introduction to the importance of knowing how to manage a website in a way that will reduce the likelihood of a lawsuit and put you in a favorable position should you need to defend yourself.

In today’s dynamic online environment, even the smallest of businesses can have complex, interactive websites. If those websites don’t contain properly-crafted documents such as privacy notices, disclaimers and terms of use, or if they contain plagiarized, defamatory or unauthorized content, the site’s owner is at risk of a lawsuit or worse. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

What can you do to make sure your website is legal? One of the ways small business attorney Suzanne D. Meehle serves her clients is by helping them do exactly that. Suzanne’s firm is Meehle & Jay, P.A., a Florida-based law practice that focuses on meeting the legal needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Suzanne knows what it’s like to build a business based on a dream. To put herself through college, she turned her love for cooking into a small catering business. After graduating, she worked as a software systems engineer and database administrator for healthcare and technology firms and built another small business for herself as a consultant in that field. But she always wanted to be a