Legal This and Legal That...

A PR professional must always be aware of the legal hassles that come along with their job and how to avoid them.

Some of the subjects discussed, were: Libel and Slander, or printing falsehoods and oral falsehoods. Copyright, which is material that cannot be redistributed without the author's permission, and plagiarism, which is copying written works without permsission or crediting the author.

Most often known as defamation, if a person or company is "defamed", and can provide proof of that, they are able to sue the Public Relations professional or department on that reason alone. Even if a name was never given, the right still stands to sue if they can be easily identified by the description provided.

Some tips for avoiding the "this and that" of legal hassles as a PR professional are:

1. Watch how writings are worded- leave no room for question.
2. Never go into details about situations- simply state the facts of the events, and let it go. i.e. "...left to pursue other interests".
3. Do not seek revenge in publicizing personal information or photos.
4. Be careful with trademarks and copyrights.

All these notes are from Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques by Dennis L. Wilcox.