Content marketing is a powerful tool.
Many businesses are advertising by writing a daily diary or blog of issues in their areas, posting content on websites (and, often, allowing others to post content on their own websites), and finding revenue streams through all this content (such as having some content be sponsored).
If your business has engaged a content marketing strategy, then your business must ask itself if it has thought of its intellectual property and advertising law issues. For example:
- You, as the author, like writing content to get more viewers to your own websites in order to build your customer and client base. But, do you own the content that you gave to another company to post? Did you make an agreement on your own intellectual property (your knowledge and your expression of those ideas)? On the other hand, if you do own the copyright to the content, what are the rights of the company posting this content? Without an agreement, there is a nebulous relationship that could lead to a copyright infringement situation.
- Are you, as the author, discussing other brands? There needs to be a filter in the back of your mind so that brands are not disparaged or demeaned. Many bigger companies are not afraid to file trademark infringement and trademark dilution lawsuits because of discussions of their companies’ brands.
- Is your business looking to have its content sponsored? If so, then your business needs to reach out to companies that target your business’ same demographics. But remember that there are FTC regulations for sponsored content marketing and your business must follow those regulations and disclosures.
All businesses should consider content marketing in its advertising strategy. But, it is also critical that a business understands and identifies its proper intellectual property and advertising law issues.