In the book Public Relations Writing: Principles in Practice, Chapter 6 discusses legal influences in PR. According to Treadwell and Treadwell, PR writers must be able to fully understand legal and public relations methods to communication. The Internet, copyright’s, privacy, financial, and disclosure reporting could affect a PR professional and their career. It is important to know that whatever a PR writer makes public, they will be held legally accountable for it.
One thing that I found the most beneficial after reading this chapter was the part on copyright. Being a college student, I hear about plagiarism or using someone else’s words or ideas all of the time. I know that it is something that I need to be extremely careful about. I could do it without even really realizing it and paraphrasing is just as bad.
When it comes to anything that is already published, one must ask the publisher for permission to use it. That goes for pictures and music as well. It was beneficial to learn that there are actually “fair” ways to use copyrighted material. This will make it much easier than having to ask for permission in the long run:
1) Credit the source
2) Do not take any material out of context
3) Use only a small amount of original document
4) Use the material for only research, educational, or legitimate purposes.
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