I found the relatively new blog Inforrm a very useful bridge before I got hold of a university log-in, but even with my newly acquired access to legal journals, the site remains an extremely useful way of digesting media law news.

Informm has written an introductory guide to blogging in the UK, referencing several other blog lists, which I heartily recommend. It includes its “personal suggestions for of UK blawgs – focussed on those at the ‘serious’ end of the scale, providing useful (and regularly updated) information for practitioners or with some relevance to those with an interest in media related legal issues.”

In today’s media round-up Inforrm picks up on the BBC’s report about a solicitor’s firm which says it has “taken forward six defamation actions involving Facebook in the last nine months.”

Richard Wilson, blogger at Don’t Get Fooled Again, has rightly criticised the article for some of its flaws (via Twitter) but even at the risk of exacerbating the problem, I’m glad to see the issue raised.

There needs to be investigation in this area, but from very informal anecdotal evidence, I’d say that many Facebook users are unware of the libel risks. This is something that should be addressed, through further research and better online guidance.

To moderate or not to moderate? How best to use material from social network sites? How to manage a rolling crime story, especially once proceedings become active?

With all those grey areas around digital media law, I was surprised by the results of my survey of 71 small publishers (including many local news writers) this summer, which shows that over half (54%) felt happy with the legal resources available to them.

Image: Matt Hamm on Flickr.

But there was a difference of opinion between those who had encountered legal trouble in the last two years and those who hadn’t.

Of the 19 publishers who had been involved in a legal dispute, 68% felt there were not enough resources. And many of the more satisfied respondents admitted that they might feel differently if they were personally embroiled in a situation.

Maybe it’s the case that you feel safe till it happens to you…