A few days ago, I read about a serious plagiarism issue that happened to a blogger in a Facebook group I’m in. A high profile influencer copied this blogger’s work word-for-word in an ebook that the influencer was selling. We found out that this influencer also copied printables and pins from others in the blogging community. The influencer blames her design team for this but it’s clear that this is not the first and last time that this will happen to bloggers.
As a blogger and content creator, my work is out there for the public to read and use. I’m happy to create posts to help solve problems for my readers. However, this means that my content is also out there for people who may want to copy it without giving me credit or profit from it without my permission. This also means that me and my blog are vulnerable to lawsuits if I accidentally provide incorrect information or didn’t realize I didn’t comply with a specific law.
In addition, as a new blogger (or even as a seasoned blogger), you’re constantly learning the in’s and out’s of blogging. For many of us, the rules and regulations surrounding copyright laws, affiliate disclosures, online products, and privacy laws are overwhelming but we don’t want to make the mistake of not having them on our site. We don’t have the time or trained expertise to understand the legal aspects of blogging. Frankly, if you’re like me, you’d prefer to do the fun stuff which is creating more content.
If you’re really serious about blogging, you must consider the legal and financial ramifications of what will happen if you get caught up in a lawsuit. This is why it’s important to have the correct legal pages on your website. You’ll have peace of mind that you and your blog are legally protected.
To help you understand the legal pages that you need to have on your website, I’ve interviewed Erika Kullberg. She’s an attorney who created a comprehensive and easy to use legal pages bundle for bloggers like me. In fact, I am currently using the legal bundle on my website.
Please read her interview below:
Please introduce yourself.
Hi, I’m Erika Kullberg. I’m an attorney and the Founder of Plug and Law. I also have a growing YouTube channel with over 50,000 subscribers.
After graduating from Georgetown Law, I went on to work for one of the top law firms in the world. While I learned a lot, my passion has always been helping entrepreneurs, small business owners and creatives–so I left to start Plug and Law. I love being able to serve people and help them to legally protect and grow their business with ease. Our motto is “Legal Made Simple.”
Can you please describe why you decided to create this product and why we need these legal pages on our websites?
I decided to create the Legal Bundle so that people with a website can have the 3 essential legal pages they need in one package: a Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions and Disclaimer.
- A Privacy Policy is required by law. If you have a website, your visitors have a right to know how their information is being collected, used, and shared. There are also various requirements that your Privacy Policy should comply with, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
- Terms & Conditions can be thought of as the “rules” of your website. They dictate how your website can and can’t be used. More importantly, they also protect you from legal disputes.
- A Disclaimer will also serve as a way to legally protect you, and ensure that you comply with requirements, such as from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
I wanted to make it easy for bloggers, online business owners and entrepreneurs to get all 3 legal pages they need through the Legal Bundle, so they don’t have to worry about not being in compliance with various laws and regulations.
Can’t I just DIY or use a free template on my website?
There are two main reasons why I don’t recommend that people try the “DIY” approach to creating legal pages for their websites.
The first problem is you’ll likely spend hours scouring the internet for different Privacy Policies, Terms & Conditions and Disclaimers to base yours off of. As a blogger or entrepreneur or business owner, your time is incredibly valuable–and I’m pretty sure you didn’t start your business to study legal requirements.
The second issue is that even after you’ve spent hours trying to draft these legal pages yourself, you still can’t be certain that you’re actually protected. There are so many loopholes that could open you and your business up to liability. As an experienced lawyer, these are the loopholes that I know how to avoid. Particularly for the Privacy Policy, which is required by law, you don’t want to end up omitting necessary parts.
Relying on free templates is also risky for a similar reason: you have no idea if you’ll be legally protected by using them. You also don’t know who actually drafted the free templates and if they are even qualified to do so.
Learn More About the Plug and Law Legal Bundle
The Plug and Law Legal Bundle has all of the essential legal pages needed to protect your blog or online business such as the Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, and Disclaimer. It is user-friendly that it only took me 10 minutes to add to my blog. In addition, it’s comprehensive enough for new and advanced bloggers but easy for your readers to understand.
You can learn more about the Plug and Law Legal Bundle at this link.