What Laws Affect Public Relations?
The work of a public relations specialist can be exciting and challenging, as it isn't always easy to get the attention of the media. However, if you're working in public relations you have to be careful because if you're not familiar with relevant laws, you may be in danger of breaking them. PR persons can be held legally liable if they provide advice or support an illegal activity of a client or employer. PR activity can lead to conspiracy charges. Defamation Defamation is negative language about a person that harms him by hurting his reputation, causing monetary loss or mental anguish. Public relations activities can risk defamation if ads or press releases place blame on another person in order to protect a company, or seek to deflect blame by speaking negatively about someone else. More specifically, defamation is libel and spoken defamation is slander. A. Libel and Slander 1. Written Defamation is libel 2. Spoken Defamation is slander 3. Distinction often lost today B. What constitutes libel 1. defamation—false statement that creates public hatred, contempt, ridicule, or inflict injury on reputation 2. printed or broadcast 3. direct or indirect identification 4. Actual injury in form of money losses, mental suffering, loss of reputation 5. malicious intent or negligent C. Avoiding Lawsuits for Libel/Slander 1. Accompany opinion with supporting facts 2. Clearly label statements of opinion D. Invasion of Privacy Usually deals with information about employees in newsletters, photo releases, publicity, and media inquiries about employees 1. Employee status doesn't waive right to privacy 2. Personal employee news may invade privacy 3. Stereotypical or racial comments can cause suits 4. Guidelines for Employee news
Intellectual Property Two types of intellectual property that public relations overlaps with are copyrights and trademarks. Copyright is the protection of any creative work that is fixed in a tangible medium. For example, any brochures or other PR material that you create will be automatically copyrighted, but you should consider registering for additional copyright protection too. Trademarks are symbols and words that identify a product, such as your company's logo. Whenever you create a new logo, you should register a trademark for it so you get added protection. Also look out for violating other companies' trademark and copyright rights. For example, don't use another company's logo in an attempt to somehow profit off their reputation. E. Copyright Law WHAT IS COPYRIGHT? Copyright maybe defined as a form of intellectual property which protects the rights of authors and creators of literary and artistic works. It refers to the main act in which, in respect of literary and artistic creation, may be made only by the author or with his authorization. Works are protected by the sole fact of their creation, irrespective of their mode or form of expression, as well as their content, quality and purpose. 1. Important from 2 perspectives: 1. What PR materials should be copyrighted; 2. How to use copyrighted materials of others correctly 2. Definition: protection of a creative work from unauthorized use 3. Copyright does not cover “raw facts” and general ideas, but specific ways in which those ideas are expressed. 4. Material is copyrighted from the moment it is created.
F. Trademark WHAT IS A TRADEMARK? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? A trademark is a tool used that differentiates goods and services from each other. It is a very important marketing tool that makes the public identify goods and services. A trademark can be one word, a group of words, sign, symbol, logo, or a combination of any of these. Generally, a trademark refers to both trademark and service mark, although a service mark is used to identify those marks used for services only. Trademark is a very effective tool that makes the public remember the quality of goods and services. Once a trademark becomes known, the public will keep on patronizing the products and services. Utilized properly, a trademark can become the most valuable business asset of an enterprise. In addition to making goods and services distinctive, the owner of a mark may earn revenues from the use of the mark by licensing its use by another or though franchising agreements. Trademarks Are Registered Words, Names, Symbols or Devices Used To Identify a Product. HOW CAN YOU PROTECT YOUR MARK? In the Philippines, a trademark can be protected through registration. Registration gives the trademark owner the exclusive right to use the mark and to prevent others from using the same or similar marks on identical or related goods and services. The right to a trademark is granted to the one who first files a trademark application with the IP Philippines. Before applying for trademark registration, it would help if you conduct a search in the trademarks database to determine if there are identical or similar marks that would prevent the registration of your mark. This is to prevent future conflicts with marks that are already registered or with earlier filing dates. The trademark protection granted by IP Philippines protects your mark only in the Philippines. If you want your mark protected outside the country, you will need to file applications in the countries where you want your mark registered. What may be registered? Your mark should be able to distinguish your goods or services from those of others. Your mark should also meet the requirements for registrability of marks under Sec. 123.1 of the Intellectual Property Code. Your mark will not be registered if it is:
Marks and indications that have become common in everyday language or usage can not be registered. They no longer distinguish the goods and services because they are used so often to refer to the goods and services. Example of this is “VCO” for virgin coconut oil, “DIAMOND PEEL” for services involving cosmetic procedure.
Color alone is not accepted unless it is defined by a given form.
- See more at: http://ipophil.gov.ph/index.php/services/trademark/about-trademark#sthash.DkvlvDuk.dpuf Guidelines to avoid trademark infringement a. Avoid improper use of other registered trademarks db Guideline for determine trademark infringement
Deceptive Advertising Whenever you write a press release or publish or broadcast an ad, you should make sure that all the information you release is honest or you'll be at risk of being guilty of deceptive advertising. This includes testimonials that you made up, defaming your competitor, using the word free for something that really isn't, deceptive pricing, exaggerated claims and other dishonest actions. You need to be above board in all your advertising and make sure that you get permission for any testimonials you use.
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Ethics: Ethics is concerned with how we should live our lives. It focuses on questions about what is right or wrong, fair or unfair, caring or uncaring, good or bad, responsible or irresponsible, and the like.
PR professionals have the burden of making ethical decisions that satisfy:
Why Identifying Ethical Standards is Hard There are two fundamental problems in identifying the ethical standards we are to follow: 1. On what do we base our ethical standards? 2. How do those standards get applied to specific situations we face? If our ethics are not based on feelings, religion, law, accepted social practice, or science, what are they based on? Many philosophers and ethicists have helped us answer this critical question. They have suggested at least two different sources of ethical standards: Philosophical Foundations of Ethics 1. Consequence-based ethics — Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
PROBLEMS:
2. Non-consequentialist — Immanuel Kant, Philosopher
It is helpful to identify what ethics is NOT:
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