Legal Question in Business Law in New Jersey

Website Business and Licences?

I am an author of a parenting book in the process of creating a parenting website. The site will have articles, forums, parenting tips, funny family sotries and jokes and parenting book reviews with links to purchase. I intend to hold monthly contests for the most original and helpful tip. My further intentions are to use all tip submittals as well as stories and jokes for view on the site as well as in future parenting books written by me. I have stated my intentions on the terms and conditions page of the site. My questions are: ''Do I need any special license to hold such a contest?'' ''Should I obtain sole proprietorship in order to run this site?'' ''Can I legally state in the terms page that all submittals become property of the site and its creator, me, to be used for viewing on the site and in future books written by me?''


Asked on 8/08/02, 1:18 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Geoffrey G. Gussis, Esq. Riker, Danzig LLP

Re: Website Business and Licences?

Depending on the prize, you may have to register your contest in certain states. Florida and New York, for example, are states that regulate contests more closely than others. I would definitely hold all of your business assets and operations within a entity - you need a shield between yourself and potential liability. Also, you need to be very careful about how you draft your language granting you permission - especially if you might use submissions in other formats. This implicates various rights - from copyright to the right of publicity. I've written articles on website development that are related to some of the issues - see http://www.gussis.com/

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Answered on 8/08/02, 1:23 pm


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