I know right now alot of people have heard about the FTC and blogging and if you haven’t heard about it, where have you been?
Being a Canadian blogger, living in Canada but reviewing for a majority of American Publishers when I heard about this I began wondering how would this affect me and the way I blog. From my first post about this alot of other Canadian bloggers left comments or emailed me asking the same thing.
Thanks to Avis she found this link and sent it too me so I thought I would share this with my Canadian bloggers.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/10/05/ftc-blogger-disclosure-standards-fines.html
I have no problem disclosing where I get my books from and have stated so from day one. I guess if you are honest and upfront then I think we will be okay.
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
Good link. So – it’s pretty easy to just add ‘thanks to XXX for the review copy” at the end of every post eh?
Good post.
I knew already, but am glad you posted too!
Thanks for sharing this Cindy. Bottom line is honesty, like you said. The article did not enlighten much but we will just have to wait and see how it all plays out. Meantime, we can take precautions and set up a disclosure statement on our blogs, clarifying our blogging motive.
I would think just stating “I received a free review copy from the publisher” would be enough. Most people who read online book reviews already know that and it keeps reviewers in the clear with the FTC.
Hi Cindy, I’m late to the story, but it seems to me that the CBC story, if it is representative of the general discussion, would be missing its mark as it applies to book bloggers like us. Book reviewers for newspapers currently (and for a long time) receive review copies in order to offer their opinions about the books, so as far as that goes, that ought to be a connection the consumer should expect to exist. And I think it applies more towards something in addition to the actual product being reviewed; gift certificates accompanying review copies would certainly apply.
And I don’t consider it to be an endorsement simply because I’ve written a post on a review copy that I’ve accepted; endorsement implies approval. Ah well, I put disclaimers on any reviews from review copies anyway.
thanks for the extra, international info! I always say where I got a book if it’s from a publisher or contest so it doesn’t really effect me that much. It’s been interesting to see the reactions, though!
Thanks for the heads-up:) But really, such nit-picking- don’t you agree?
On a brighter note…I linked you!!
Have a nice weekend,
Hugs:)