The photo was on a search engine. The photographer’s invoice is real.
A blog that earns from ads, affiliate links or sponsors is a publisher, and its claims come from what it posts, such as an unlicensed photo, a harsh review of a real business or a comment section. We place media liability for bloggers and online publishers, with the cyber and general liability around it.
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Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
What blogger businesses actually need.
Media liability
Covers claims arising from what you publish (defamation, copyright and trademark infringement, invasion of privacy and misuse of a person’s likeness) on an annual policy for creators, podcasters, publishers and authors.
Without it — Copyright, defamation and privacy claims over posts, photos, reviews and newsletters, with the defense paid whether or not the claim has merit.
Cyber & tech E&O
Breach response, ransomware and the notification costs that follow. Technology errors and omissions sits on the same policy and covers the software or service itself failing a client, which is the half most tech companies find out about too late.
Without it — A hacked site, a stolen subscriber list and the cost of telling readers. These are cyber claims, not media ones.
General liability
Third-party bodily injury and property damage. It is the line nearly every contract names by default.
Without it — Meetups, workshops and brand events where someone can be hurt. It excludes publishers from its libel coverage, so it does not answer for posts.
Professional liability
Covers the advice, the drawing, the diagnosis. The work itself, rather than someone getting hurt on your premises.
Without it — Writing, editing or managing content for clients is a service, and a client’s claim that you got it wrong is professional liability.
What the regulators actually wrote down.
A copyright owner who proves infringement can elect statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per work infringed, rising to $150,000 per work when the infringement was willful, without proving any actual loss.
17 U.S.C. § 504(c), Legal Information Institute · checked 2026-10-28
Federal law provides that no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of information provided by another information content provider, and that the provision does not limit or expand any law pertaining to intellectual property.
47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1) and (e)(2), Legal Information Institute · checked 2026-10-28
To qualify for the copyright safe harbor for material stored at a user’s direction, a service provider must designate an agent to receive infringement notices, post the agent’s contact details on its website, and file them with the Copyright Office.
17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(2), Legal Information Institute · checked 2026-10-28
The FTC’s Endorsement Guides state that endorsers may be liable for statements made in the course of their endorsements.
FTC Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, 16 CFR § 255.1(e) · checked 2026-10-28
On March 2, 2026 the Supreme Court declined to review Thaler v. Perlmutter, which leaves in place the rule that a work needs a human author to be registered for copyright.
Mayer Brown, "Supreme Court denies review in AI authorship case" · checked 2026-10-28
The claims we actually see.
Ordered by how often we see them, not by how dramatic they are. Each one names the coverage that answers it — and the policy people wrongly assume already does.
Most common
A photographer or an agency invoices or sues over an image in an old post
Covered by Media liability, copyright
Taking the photo down is assumed to end it. The use already happened, and statutory damages run from $750 to $30,000 per work without any proof of loss.
Common
A business you reviewed says the post was false and cost it customers
Covered by Media liability, defamation
An honest opinion is assumed to be safe. Opinion is protected, and a sentence that states or implies a false fact is not, however the post is labeled.
Less common, severe
A reader posts something defamatory or infringing in the comments or a forum
Covered by Media liability, defense of the claim
Section 230 is assumed to cover everything readers post. It does not reach copyright, which is why the DMCA safe harbor and a registered agent matter.
Less common, severe
A brand or a regulator objects to an undisclosed affiliate or sponsored post
Covered by Read the media form, which often excludes or limits regulatory matters
The brand is assumed to carry the disclosure duty. The FTC says endorsers can be liable for what they say in an endorsement.
Common
The site is hacked and the subscriber list is exposed
Covered by Cyber liability
The hosting company is assumed to be responsible. Its terms usually make the site owner responsible for the data on the site.
Kevin Kelsey
Founder | Principal Agent
Founder of Boring Insurance, with a background in compliance and risk management for some of Hollywood’s largest production companies.
What our blogger clients ask us.
Do bloggers need insurance?
A blog that makes money is a publishing business, and the claim that arrives most often is a copyright invoice for a photo. Reviews of real businesses, product claims and comment sections bring the rest. A hobby blog with original photos and no reviews may never need it. A monetized blog with an archive of borrowed images, affiliate reviews and sponsors is the buyer media liability was written for.
Will taking a photo down stop a copyright claim?
It stops new infringement and does not erase the old one. A rights holder can claim for the period the image was up, and if the photo was registered, statutory damages run from $750 to $30,000 per work without proof of loss. Report the demand to your insurer before you negotiate, because many policies require consent before you agree to pay anything.
Am I liable for what commenters post?
For defamation, generally not. Section 230 treats the commenter, not the site, as the speaker. It does not reach intellectual property, so a reader’s pirated image or video on your site is handled by the DMCA, whose safe harbor requires you to register an agent with the Copyright Office and post its details. Remove what you are notified about promptly.
What will the underwriter ask an online publisher?
Every site you want covered, whether each has terms of use and a privacy policy, and whether streamed content and music are licensed. If readers can post, whether you review uploads, follow Section 230 and DMCA notice and takedown, remove content promptly and deal with repeat posters. Then who posts to your social accounts and whether posts are reviewed first, whether you rely on fair use, and whether contractors who create content carry their own insurance.
I write posts or make images with AI. Who is liable if something is wrong?
You are. A false statement or an invented quote about a real person is defamation by the publisher, and an AI image that copies a photographer’s work or shows a real person is a copyright or likeness claim. Ownership changes too. After Thaler, left in place in March 2026, text with no human author cannot be registered, so a scraper copying a purely AI post may not be infringing. Check your policy for AI wording.
Does general liability cover a blog?
Not for what you post. General liability includes some libel and privacy coverage, then excludes insureds in the business of publishing, which a monetized blog is, and it excludes most copyright claims outright. From January 2026 it can also carry ISO’s CG 40 48, which removes that coverage for anything arising out of generative AI. It still answers for injuries at an event you host.
A business I reviewed is threatening to sue. What should I do?
Keep the post up until you have spoken to your insurer and a lawyer, preserve your notes and sources, and do not reply in public. A suit over a review of a business is a common example of what anti-SLAPP statutes were written for, and in some states a defendant who wins that motion recovers legal fees.
What does blogger insurance cost?
We do not publish a range. The price follows revenue, audience, what you write about, whether you review businesses or products, how you source images, whether readers can post, the limit and deductible, and claim history. A recipe blog with its own photos sits low; a site of product reviews and stock images sits higher.
Commercial insurance is 96% of what we do — it is not a department here, it is the whole business. Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.
Handed a lease, a vendor packet or a client contract with insurance requirements? Paste it into the COI Requirements Decoder to see what each one means for your business, or read what the requirements mean.