As always, you share excellent and helpful information, even in times of distress. I’m very glad you were able to be cleared in this case.

In some states of Australia, the truth is not a defence against defamation, but being clear that what you are saying is simply a personal opinion might protect you. Copyright is automatic in Australia – as soon as content is created, it is copyright; nobody needs to “register” their work. And you simply crediting the work is not sufficient in most cases – you need permission (though you can use material if you are reviewing or for satire… but the lines are blurry and in the end a court would decide)

It’s your responsibility to know the law and that’s relatively easy if you’re only publishing in one territory. But publishing globally adds a whole new wrinkle! Under what legal system should you operate?

There was a famous case in Thailand recently of an expat Aussie journalist falling foul of a “lese majeste” law (where it’s illegal to criticise the monarch) because of an article in a local newspaper. Took months of struggle and he is now home (and the law is probably going to be changed) – but it’s the kind of thing that could land many content providers in the soup.

This is such a great piece, thanks Joan for stirring up our awareness of this important aspect of having an online presence!

I occasionally pull some text from other sites & blogs for my own blog, but have given full credit to the source for the entirety of what I use. Is that OK??