There is a handy online guide about free speech and copyright and the arts, appropriately named Online Arts Rights, created by the Center for Democracy and Technology. While you ultimately want to consult a lawyer about such things, the site provides a good resource if you have questions on a variety of subjects.

They tackle issues related to “Sexual Content, Violence, Political Speech, Hate Speech, Depictions of Real People and Sampling and Appropriation.” Another area looks at the role of an artist and an online content provider and issues they should take into consideration. A third area deals with the penalties under U.S. criminal and civil law as well as how the government can and can not apply regulations.

Because so much content is being delivered over the internet, they also touch briefly upon how one might run afoul international law. As you might imagine, there is very little concrete to tell because it is often unclear what laws apply. Those where the content was created, those where the servers and routers are located or those where the recipient is located. On a related note, the site also addresses violations of an internet provider or content host’s terms of service and how material protected by the First Amendment won’t protect you from having your account shut down.