TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Legal Requirments for a User's Manual From:"Marguerite Krupp" <mkrupp -at- cisco -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 24 Oct 2002 09:33:46 -0400
Others can give you specifics, but, depending on the industry, there CAN be
legal requirements for a user's manual. You should consult your company's
legal beagles for specific advice.
Generally, all user manuals must acknowledge trademarks, registered
trademarks, and copyrights to which they refer and should establish the
company's own copyright. These requirements are fairly stringent, as they
involve real corporate assets as well as corporate image.
Notices of cautions, warnings, and danger should appear in appropriate
places in the user manual. Not required, exactly, but if someone gets hurt,
you [the writer, as well as the company] could be sued big time. ANSI
provides standard U.S. formats for these. Underwriters' Labs (U.L.) and CSA
(in Canada) also have standard requirements. The E.U. and other contries may
have their own requirements. I can recall having to put country-specific
warnings into English-language manuals. Again, you should get advice from a
corporate lawyer.
Other industries/specialties have their own requirements. Other threads on
this list have discussed MIL-STD/Mil-Spec requirements and pharmaceutical
industry requirements (see the archives).
In some cases, the requirements are not "legal," but rather just corporate
convention.
Have fun!
Marguerite
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All-new RoboHelp X3 is now shipping! Get single sourcing, print-quality
documentation, conditional text and much more, in the most monumental
release ever. Save $100! Order online at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
Buy ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 6.0, the most powerful SINGLE SOURCE HELP
AUTHORING TOOL for MS Word. SAVE $100 on the full version and $50 on the
upgrade. Offer ends 10/31/2002 (code: DTH102250). http://www.componentone.com/d2hlist1002
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
