Kaufman and Tebelak make the argument that a technical communicator needs to know the basics of intellectual property law in order to keep a check on any potential problems for the employer. Thus, technical communicators do not have responsibilities only in the area of design and presentation of a document, but also in the legal area of what kind of information can be distributed. 24 March 1999. This web site provides useful and understandable advice to a great number of legal questions about the patent law. While the disclaimer that this is not legal advice appears under every heading, the advice given can be taken seriously.
Examples add to the clarity of the explanations.
A Critical Approach Toward Cyberwriting. Stuart A. Selber. Porter s article is very perceptive in that it brings together current legal issues on copyright in cyberspace, the way these issues may effect our writing and use of texts out of cyberspace, and a practical approach to potential problems that are based in current theory. His theoretical approach combines postmodernism, communications theories, and the law in a convincing argument that is at the same time common sense. However, the laws in themselves will be too broad to be useful, so one needs to be aware of the particular communicative situation a text is dealt with in order to decide, on a case-by case basis, what is ethical and thus, maybe, legal.