Blogging may be wrongly perceived as a space where one can open one’s mind freely without hindrances, without having to face surprises. Unfortunately, blogs are not as simple as in the fairy tale scenario. While you do have a freedom to express your thoughts in the way you would want to, you are also constrained by issues that have a legal angle to them. These legalities need to be considered seriously if you would not want to be caught on the wrong foot on a blogging misadventure.

Legal Framework: The most important aspect here is to recognize that there is no such thing as unhindered freedom of expression – everyone’s freedom is limited and regulated by a legal framework that is increasingly getting consolidated to go with the complex needs of the internet era. You must appreciate the existence of such a framework which may, one day, extend its arms to reach out to your works on the blogosphere.

Contracts: As blogging is no more an amateur time-pass but is a profession which draws more and more people with a creative bent of mind and an inherent compulsion to speak out to the world, the business opportunity that blogging provides involves perfectly legal agreements and contracts. You would be well advised to be conscious of all the agreements that you have signed, electronically or otherwise, and read them with all seriousness. Professional blogging is yet to mature as an industry and you wouldn’t want to land up in unnecessary surprises one fine day. Web hosting, content sharing agreements and affiliate programme contracts are not to be signed as a force of habit.

Terms of Use: As you blog, make your “terms of use” abundantly clear and conspicuous in such a way that readers wouldn’t be able to proceed without having read and agreed to your terms. This holds particular importance when you host forums for readers to interact with one another and post contents and responses on your space. You should decide who is to take ownership to what you have written or what others have posted on your site and make readers who post, responsible for their contents. You would rather not let your viewers wreak havoc and go Scott free under your nose. User-generated content in forums where sites share revenues with readers on such programmes as Google Adsense, needs strict supervision on content and rights to sensitive sections of your website.

If these legal aspects of blogging are taken care of after cautious scrutiny, you can keep posting your stuff and running your show without apprehensions, well within legal limits.