Blog tour participants must read this new liability law

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I’m not trying to be a fear-monger here. But as bloggers get treated more and more like journalists, we will need to obey the regulations that the Federal Trade Commission places on journalists.

According to Phillips Givens, LLC, the Trade Commission is proposing changes to their Consumer Product Testimonial and Endorsement Rules.

If you have ever blogged a book review after receiving a promotional copy, you must read this. If you host blog tours (like my friend, Tina, who hosts the best blog tours), you must read this. Wait. Was that an endorsement? Let me be clear. Tina has never sent me money, but I have participated in her blog tours and received a free book or two.

Since I’m an editor, receiving a free book is not as exciting as it might sound. My desk is stacked with free books.

Now I have to be very clear when I review books. My plan is simply to always explain where I got the book. Was it free? Did I buy it? Did I buy it on Amazon? Explaining how I received the book is now part of every review.

This is a little odd. The New York Times Book Review is no doubt reviewing copies their journalists received for free. And yet the FTC isn’t requiring them to state clearly that they read a promotional copy. In fact, the New York Times Best Seller list is hardly the objective list of financially successful books that it appears to be, according to some publishing folks I know. Wait. Was that some kind of libel?

Ack! These stupid rules make me paranoid. But don’t worry … if you are honest … if you are trying to do the right thing… if you are looking for truth and beauty … if you aren’t allegedly scamming people to buy Acai Berry with German stock photos … then you are probably okay. Don’t try to win a quick buck. Be yourself. Share what you think about products. Don’t be scared, but also don’t be a fanboy or fangirl of every free book that comes your way.

Phillips Givens explains the relevant stuff for bloggers who review books:

In the new proposed rules, The Federal Trade Commission also addressed advertising in new media (Web 2.0). Essentially, if an advertiser pays a blogger to write a review endorsing a product or service, the advertiser and the blogger must disclose the financial relationship. In addition, both blogger and advertiser both will be liable for any false or unsubstantiated claims regarding results of products or services.

Read the full article here: IP LAW 101: New Federal Trade Commission Proposed Rules on Blogger Product Endorsements: What brands and bloggers need to know.

HT: to Guy Kawasaki‘s Facebook status for this one.

Bestseller List 2.0 (mediabistro.com)
Proposed FTC Endorsement and Testimonial Ad Revisions Add Blogs, Message Boards, Street Teams (seobythesea.com)
Acai Berry weight loss blogs under investigation (inquisitr.com)

Merrie Destefano says:

April 7, 2009 at 4:12 pm

This a great and enlightening post, Mark! I almost always try to purchase the books I review. There have a few times I got a book free and did a review, but not very often. My thought is: Wouldn't the author rather get a royalty on the book AND get a review? So that's what I try to do. Although, I haven't done reviews in ages . . .

marcusgoodyear says:

April 7, 2009 at 4:31 pm

I’m not sure when I started getting so many review copies. I guess it’s connected to the Christianity Today gig I do at FaithInTheWorkplace.com. Being a book hound, I do enjoy it. And I agree about buying books as often as possible. I bought Strickland’s. I bought several copies of L. L. Barkat’s book. I always always do my best to buy poetry.

And of course, most recently, I bought Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Which is just hilarious! I’m loving it. And wondering if there is a group of people like me somewhere who would also love this? Or am I just the one weird person in the middle of the venn diagram where zombies and Jane Austen overlap?

marcusgoodyear says:

April 7, 2009 at 4:31 pm

I’m not sure when I started getting so many review copies. I guess it’s connected to the Christianity Today gig I do at FaithInTheWorkplace.com. Being a book hound, I do enjoy it. And I agree about buying books as often as possible. I bought Strickland’s. I bought several copies of L. L. Barkat’s book. I always always do my best to buy poetry.

And of course, most recently, I bought Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Which is just hilarious! I’m loving it. And wondering if there is a group of people like me somewhere who would also love this? Or am I just the one weird person in the middle of the venn diagram where zombies and Jane Austen overlap?

spaghettipie says:

April 7, 2009 at 9:36 pm

First, of course, thanks for the kind words.

I think the regulation being proposed makes a lot of sense from a transparency and relationship standpoint. As a blogger, it's important to me to maintain a level of trust between my readers and myself, and I would never want my endorsement or critique of a product to come into question because I was given it for free.

I'm amazed at the number of free books that are sent out these days without a second thought. I find most large publishers consider free review copies (even in addition to ARCs) standard. In may ways that makes sense to me, too. Throw a little good will into the social media system, and the small expense for personal recommendations becomes invaluable.

I do question, as at least one commenter on the article did, about the FTC's ability to regulate such a proposal. And is that really worth the time and expense?

Ann Voskamp says:

April 10, 2009 at 3:56 am

Fascinating, Marcus…
….as always…

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