Statement of Policies

This is a blog about consumer law and policy issues written by a group of law professors and lawyers who teach or practice consumer law.

Publicity and Citation:

We encourage you to let people know about the Consumer Law and Policy Blog and to use or refer to our postings in news articles, other blogs, other writing, or in any other way that seems appropriate. Please let us know if you cite or link to the blog and, when you do so, please acknowledge the name of the individual author of the posting.

Legal Advice:

This site does not provide legal advice and nothing on this site should be construed as legal advice. If you are a consumer in the United States in need of legal advice, we suggest that instead of writing us, you visit the website of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, where you can find an online directory of consumer lawyers in your area. You can also find a lawyer by consulting the American Bar Association or the Legal Services Corporation. Finally, the National Consumer Law Center has a useful compilation of free information for consumers.

Responsibility for Content:

Each contributor or commenter is responsible only for his or her own postings. A statement or opinion posted by one contributor is not necessarily the statement or opinion of any other contributor or the institutions with which they are affiliated. Similarly, although this blog is sponsored by Public Citizen, the views posted here do not necessarily reflect those of Public Citizen, its membership, or its employees.

Intellectual Property:

It is our policy to respond to notices of infringement of copyright and other intellectual property rights. We will promptly process and investigate notices of alleged infringement and take appropriate action under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 512 ("DMCA"), and other applicable intellectual property laws, including the termination of access by repeat infringers. Pursuant to the DMCA, notifications of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to our designated agent: Marybeth Stiles, Office Manager, Public Citizen Litigation Group, 1600 20th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009. To be effective, the notification must be a clear written communication that includes the following: (a) a signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; (b) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed; (c) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material; (d) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted; (e) a statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or applicable law; and (f) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.