Do I need to obtain permission to blog about a TV show?

[sha_angelico]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

I have a personal blog...do I have to get permission if I want to write a post about the best-looking men from a reality show? I would link to the site for any and all pictures and extensive profiling, although I would give my own opinions. The comments are of a humorous and/or 'he comes off as a jerk, but he's actually a nice person", etc.

Like I said, it's a personal blog, not anything I would get paid for. Thanks.

Would the answer be different if it were in an online magazine?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

I have a personal blog...do I have to get permission if I want to write a post about the best-looking men from a reality show? I would link to the site for any and all pictures and extensive profiling, although I would give my own opinions. The comments are of a humorous and/or 'he comes off as a jerk, but he's actually a nice person", etc.

Like I said, it's a personal blog, not anything I would get paid for. Thanks.

Would the answer be different if it were in an online magazine?

You can blog about tv shows and express your opinions of the characters or the actors who portray the characters.

But there are some precautions you must take and there are some things you must avoid. For example, you should not publish copyrighted photos or copyrighted material without the express written permission of the copyright holder, and you must be very careful not to defame the real-life actors behind the fictional characters, or defame any reality show participant (avoid false facts).

Here is a good site for you to visit prior to writing your blog posts - http://www.kcnn.org.

This Knight Community News Network site is designed for online writers, providing them with valuable advice to keep bloggers and citizen journalists from having their blogs or articles become the targets of lawsuits. When you get to the site, click on the "modules" link in the top banner, and scroll down to find "Ten Legal Risks." If you read through all of what this legal risk module has to offer, you will become better educated on what you can and cannot do when writing online about identified people or about trademarked shows, and what you need to do to avoid copyright or trademark infringement.

As to your last question, the laws apply to everyone.

Good luck.