When you post something on the web or make an entry in your blog, it is the same as being published. I always thought that "publish" implied bringing to public attention or making publicly available via distribution of printed material.

But of course I wouldn't have a clue about the legal definition and wouldn't really care, except for the issue of copyright of creative material. When we write in a web log or journal, though of course the content is available to anyone who cares to read it, it has never before occurred to me to think of it as publication.

For instance, I wrote a short short story and posted it
in my blog several months ago; however, if someone were to ask me if I had published it, I'd say no, because it's not in print.

That said, if I were in the position of representing a person, the disclosure of whose blogs could seriously jeopardize our legal or business situation, I'd sure as hell would want to know about them up front and not find out when it was disclosed by the opposition and we were forced into a defensive position.

It won't be too many more years before we have reporters delving into blog entries to reveal candidates' thoughts--and writing exposes: Candidate's Blog Reveals All!