There are many laws that you have to take notice of when you are a media journalist. Many of which you may be aware of before you start writing but others you may not know about. Firstly, you are entitled to freedom of speech and are allowed to write what you feel is right, but this comes with some limitations. You are not allowed to include insulting comments about someone, it must be true and honest facts that you are writing, it must not be offensive in any way, it must not include racism or threats to wound or kill. In other words, you cannot create a story off the top of your head and include any of these limitations mentioned before.
Also, there is a protection of intellectual property. This is similar to copyright. You must not use text from sources and claim it as your own. These sources can be things such as books, advertisements, brochures, logos, music works and so on. The reasons for this come down to copyright legislations.
Copyright prevents anyone using your work unless they have permission from you to do so that entitles them to a licence that states they are allowed to use your work. If you have copyright on your work it is protected for 50 years following your death. This means that you have protection of your own work from the moment you have it copyrighted, to 50 years after your death so that no one can claim your work as their own as soon as you die.
There is also a Law of Tort that you need to take into consideration when you are media writing. This refers to when someone writes something about you that causes harm to the person you are writing about. The law of tort protects reputation, financial well-being and privacy. So no one can write anything about you that may cause harm to your reputation or anything that is your private information.
These are only a few of the legislations that you must be aware of when you are media writing but this is a basis of a few that are the most important. Always make sure you know these legislations before you publish a story because if you do not, it may land you in some trouble.
Amanda Provan
Also, there is a protection of intellectual property. This is similar to copyright. You must not use text from sources and claim it as your own. These sources can be things such as books, advertisements, brochures, logos, music works and so on. The reasons for this come down to copyright legislations.
Copyright prevents anyone using your work unless they have permission from you to do so that entitles them to a licence that states they are allowed to use your work. If you have copyright on your work it is protected for 50 years following your death. This means that you have protection of your own work from the moment you have it copyrighted, to 50 years after your death so that no one can claim your work as their own as soon as you die.
There is also a Law of Tort that you need to take into consideration when you are media writing. This refers to when someone writes something about you that causes harm to the person you are writing about. The law of tort protects reputation, financial well-being and privacy. So no one can write anything about you that may cause harm to your reputation or anything that is your private information.
These are only a few of the legislations that you must be aware of when you are media writing but this is a basis of a few that are the most important. Always make sure you know these legislations before you publish a story because if you do not, it may land you in some trouble.
Amanda Provan
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