## Guide to Laws for Bloggers and Website Owners in the U.S.

If you’re a blogger, there are some important areas of the law you should know about to protect your work and help you stay out of legal trouble. This page is a guide to laws that apply throughout the United States. Your _state_ may provide additional protections in some of these areas, so be sure to also check your state’s laws. (For California see our combined federal & state guide [here](https://cal.lawsoup.org/legal-guides/blogger/ "Internet laws for bloggers or businesses in california")). And as always, [speak to a lawyer](/content/get-legal-help "Find a Lawyer"/index.html) before taking any major actions (or decisions not to act) based on this information.

Also be sure to see our [Legal Guide to Creating a Website](/content/legal-guides/internet-social-media/creating-maintaining-a-website/index.html).

### **1. Laws about Internet, Social Media, and Email**

This is an obvious area of law for bloggers, but it changes pretty frequently so be sure to keep up at our [Guide to Internet Law](/content/legal-guides/internet-social-media/index.html).

### **2. Marketing & Endorsements**

#### **Do I need to disclose my relationship to products I review or endorse?**

Yes, see our [Guide to Laws about Reviews and/or Endorsing Products or Services](/content/legal-guides/blogger/endorsements/index.html)

#### What else does a blogger need to know about marketing?

See our [Guide to Marketing and Merchandising](/content/legal-guides/marketing-and-merchandising/index.html).

### **3. Privacy Law**

If you write about or post photos of people, you need to know about [privacy law](/content/legal-guides/privacy-laws/index.html).

### **4. Copyright**

It’s very important to have a good understanding of [copyright law](/content/legal-guides/copyright-protecting-creative-artistic-business-work/index.html), in order to protect your own work, and to avoid being sued for copyright infringement.

### **5. Free Speech**

You should generally know about [free speech rights and laws](/content/legal-guides/free-speech/index.html).

### **6. Journalism**

If you write about “newsworthy” stories, you should know about the laws for [journalists](/content/legal-guides/journalist/index.html).

### **7. Business Law**

#### **Is my blog a business?**

If you make any money from your blog, such as through advertising, e-commerce, or other means, you are a business. Thus you need to know about [business law](/content/legal-guides/entrepreneurs-and-business-owners/index.html).

#### **Can I protect my blog name and prevent others from using it?**

If you are making any money from your blog, you may have rights to the blog name. This is called [trademark](/content/legal-guides/trademark/index.html).

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### Exercise Your Rights

- If you believe you have been **hacked**, contact local law enforcement (use non-emergency number unless your physical safety is at risk) and/or file a complaint with the [Internet Criminal Complaint Center](http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx "IC3 complaint")
- [File a complaint](http://www.fcc.gov/complaints "FCC complaint form") about wi-fi or cell signal **jamming**
- Find a [social media lawyer, privacy lawyer, or copyright lawyer](/content/get-legal-help "Find a Lawyer"/index.html)