Intellectual Property: A Guide for Freelance Writers and Bloggers

Freelancers and bloggers are unique kinds of writers, operating in a very different realm of the field of technical communication than most other technical writers. They have more responsibility when it comes to the legal ramifications of their work than most other technical writers would have. It is for this reason that a guide to intellectual property would be useful for professional freelance writers and bloggers. Intellectual property, in short, is property that is derived from someone’s mind, such as an idea, invention, or artistic creation. There is a definite gap in current research relating intellectual property law to technical writing as a whole—the gap is even wider when those writers are narrowed down to freelancers and bloggers. This presentation will cover the forms of intellectual property that would be important to freelancers and bloggers—copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, nondisclosure agreements, and noncompetition agreements. It will also explain the different reasons why each form of intellectual property is specifically important to these kinds of technical writers. The end goal is to help freelancers and bloggers understand their legal rights and help them protect themselves from lawsuits. When it comes to these two types of technical communicators, understanding how the law may affect their work would be incredibly helpful