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Category: Legal Update

Latest on HB 7049 County Website-only Option (Feb. 1)

The new public notice law HB 7040 is now effective. It allows counties or their designated entity to create and operate in place of newspaper notice a “publicly accessible website” to provide public notices and legal ads. If a county opts to set up such a site, other local government entities like municipalities and school…
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Newspapers Should Proof All Legal/Public Notice Ad Drafts

This is a reminder that newspapers placing legal ads and public notices should always proof/edit draft ads for format, typos, and compliance with statutory requirements to the extent possible. While ultimate responsibility for ad compliance is with the customer placing the ad, it is still good business practice to perform this editing function. Such review…
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From the Legal Hotline (1-877-NEWS-LAW)

Q. I have a quick question if you don’t mind. A political gadfly in town is asking to run an ad with us again, and I’d like to not do business of any kind with him. Every word I say to him will end up in emails he sends out, or in court. Are there…
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Latest on HB 7049 County Website-only Option

The new public notice law HB 7040 is now effective. It allows counties or their designated entity to create and operate in place of newspaper notice a “publicly accessible website” to provide public notices and legal ads. If a county opts to set up such a site, other local government entities like municipalities and school…
Read more

From the Legal Hotline (1-877-NEWS-LAW)

Q. I have a question for you about using a screenshot from a website in an article I’ve written. Long story short, a candidate who just filed for a local office used to run a political action committee that sold t-shirts with some relatively inflammatory statements on them, including ones that attacked various local politicians…
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Protective Steps to Protect Yourself from Copyright Trolls

From time to time, we hear reports of some small business websites including newspaper websites receiving letters from alleged copyright reps/owners claiming that the sites have posted unauthorized images. These letters have in the past typically been sent from large companies purveying stock images, in particular Getty Images, but recently other claimants have joined the…
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Images of Filed Complaints Can Now be Obtained in Real Time

A federal judge in Tallahassee recently entered an order requiring the implementation of a single statewide public access point for obtaining images of newly-filed circuit civil complaints. The order reinstates what was once the common practice in Florida during the print era, whereby journalists could check new printed complaints as soon as they were filed,…
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Latest on HB 7049 County Website-only Option

The new public notice law HB 7040, effective Jan. 1, 2023, allows counties or their designated entity to create and operate in place of newspaper notice a “publicly accessible website” to provide public notices and legal ads. If a county opts to set up such a site, other local government entities like municipalities and school…
Read more

From the Legal Hotline (1-877-NEWS-LAW)

Q. I periodically receive requests to remove images from our website, sometimes due to an arrest and other times because the individual wants to scrub the internet of their likeness. What is the policy of the Florida Press Association on this, and does it really do any good if the image has been on the…
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Latest on HB 7049 for FPA Members Publishing Legal Notices

As you know, the new public notice law HB 7040, effective Jan. 1, 2023, allows counties or their designated entity to create and operate in place of newspaper notice a “publicly accessible website” to provide public notices and legal ads. If a county opts to set up such a site, other local government entities like…
Read more