Contact Information: For more information, contact: Jane McDonnell Executive Director Online News Association Sherry Skalko Editor, Journalists.org
ONA Partners With Online Media Legal Network for Free and Low-Cost Legal Referrals
| Source: Online News Association
WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - January 5, 2010) - The
Online News Association (ONA), the world's largest membership of
digital journalists, today announced a partnership with the Citizen Media
Law Project at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society
to bring its new Online Media Legal Network (OMLN) to its members.
Staffed by lawyers with extensive backgrounds in intellectual property and
media law, OMLN (www.omln.org) provides independent journalists access to
high-quality free and reduced-fee legal work, qualifying them for
assistance, helping them identify their legal needs and matching them with
participating attorneys.
OMLN's network comprises more than 30 law firms, representing nearly 7,000
lawyers, as well as law school clinics, in-house counsel and individual
lawyers across the country interested in helping online journalism ventures
and other digital media creators.
"Any journalist who is building a digital media business, tackling issues
of copyright on their website, writing up freelance contracts or facing a
libel suit knows how critical -- and costly -- expert legal counsel can
be," said ONA Executive Director Jane McDonnell. "With OMLN, our members
have a fast track to a legal safety net."
OMLN's services range from forming and governing a business, copyright
licensing and fair use, freelancer agreements, access to government
information, pre-publication review of content and representation in
litigation.
Individuals, non-profits and independent, for-profit journalism
organizations are eligible for the free services if they meet OMLN
financial criteria. Reduced-fee services may be available for those who
don't qualify for free help. (At this time the network can only assist with
questions involving U.S. law, but it hopes to expand services in the
future.)
If you are an ONA member and would like to take advantage of this benefit,
visit the Legal
Resources page under Member Resources on Journalists.org. There you
will find several options, including directions to download a
"legal check-up" survey and to contact the OMLN staff for a one-on-one
consultation about your specific needs. Not an ONA member? Join here.
"Many independent online publishers lack the expertise and financial
resources to protect themselves," said David Ardia, Director of the Citizen
Media Law Project. "It's easy to imagine how one threatening letter can
close down an important avenue of reporting or one lawsuit could shut down
a promising journalism site. We created OMLN to make sure that doesn't
happen -- and to help build a vibrant online media environment."
OMLN is funded in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For
more information on the Citizen Media Law Project, go to
http://www.citmedialaw.org.
The Citizen Media Law Project is jointly affiliated with Harvard
University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, a research center
funded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its
development, and the Center for Citizen Media, an initiative to enhance and
expand grassroots media. CMLP provides assistance, training, research and
other resources for individuals and organizations involved in online and
citizen media.
The Online News Association is the world's largest association of online
journalists. ONA's mission is to inspire innovation and excellence among
journalists to better serve the public. The membership includes news
writers, producers, designers, editors, bloggers, technologists,
photographers and others who produce news for the Internet or other digital
delivery systems, as well as academic members and others interested in the
development of online journalism. ONA also hosts the annual Online News
Association annual
conference and administers the Online Journalism Awards.