My Insurance Insider and Finance Blog

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In my last July issue I’ve talked about Professional Liability Insurance for Bloggers in the light growing trend of law-suits against bloggers community. But finding a suitable and affordable package of protection through insurance is the real problem for bloggers. Here is a really good news for you. You can now get access to same training, legal support and insurance as available to traditional media organizations.

The New York-based Media Bloggers Association has recently launched a program of legal and financial resources through BlogInsure which is a first-of-its-kind liability insurance program for bloggers. It provides coverage for all forms of defamation, invasion of privacy and copyright infringement or similar allegations arising out of blogging activities.

The program is an online course in media law(Online Media Law: The Basics for Bloggers and Other Online Publishers) developed by the MBA in partnership with The Poynter Institute’s News University.

“The past few years have seen unprecedented changes in the media landscape,” said Robert Cox, co-founder and president of the Media Bloggers Association. “From a handful of bloggers in 2000 to tens of millions today, bloggers have been granted full press credentials, broken major news stories, and dethroned high-profile politicians and media figures. With that success has come greater scrutiny and the inevitable rise in legal threats facing bloggers.”

Successful completion of the course is also the basis for the discount on liability insurance available to bloggers through the BlogInsure program. By joining the MBA, bloggers can buy liability insurance through Media/Professional Insurance, a business unit of the Select Markets Division of AXIS Insurance. The insurance covers costs and damages for claims of defamation, copyright infringement and privacy violation.

Media/Professional Insurance has offered media liability coverage for publishers and broadcasters since 1979, protecting against claims of defamation and infringement.

Insured bloggers can also get access to a new legal hotline beta program by becoming a MBA member and through MBA they can submit queries and get legal advice before the start of a problem. The hotline is operated by the law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, and overseen by Sonnenschein partner Blaine Kimrey.

Source:MBA