The blogosphere keeps expanding. in June 2008, Technorati tracked blogs in 81 languages.

From Technorati's State of the Blogosphere 2008 - a five part series, published starting today.

What's this about the AP cracking down on bloggers for excerpting from and linking to news stories? The practice is allowed under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. copyright law -- as long as you're only quoting a portion of an article for purposes of commenting on it (you can't just cut and paste the whole thing into a blog post). Mark Glaser has one of the better roundups of the issue(s) at Mediashift. Another great resource: the Stanford Center for Internet and Society's "Fair Use Project."

Flickr photo by ThisParticularGreg.

Over 100 judgments valued at $17 million have gone against bloggers in the past three years, and 60 percent of the judgments relate to defamation while 25 percent were for copyright infringement and 10 percent related to piracy, The Associated Press reports.

The article references a $25 million defamation lawsuit against a Miami real estate agent and blogger (see related Inman News article). On Friday, Inman News reported that online real estate referral and rebate company ePerks has filed a lawsuit against a former real estate agent who has posted information about the company at his blog site (read article here), charging damage to the company's reputation and loss of earnings capacity. The online discussion continues to heat up on the topic (see here and here).

The AP article quotes Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association: "Bloggers are being asked to write checks. The threats against bloggers are very real. The costs are very real." The Society of Professional Journalists is offering a series of seminars across the country that offer journalism training, according to the article.

Carnival of Real Estate Creme Egg Award

Easter means different things to different people - but to me, it always meant one thing as a kid. Chocolate.

More importantly, a creamy fondant interior covered by a thick milk chocolate shell. Yes, I'm talking about that pocket-sized sugar bomb that is the Cadbury Creme Egg.

And even though they've gotten smaller over the years, they still remain a favorite in my home at this time of year.

So I thought it was only appropriate that this week's Carnival of Real Estate honor my very favorite piece of confectionary and our favorite blog post be bestowed with this important recognition.

This week's Creme Egg Award goes to:

Denny Oh with Blogging is Like Dating posted at GeekEstate Blog.

But of course, no visit from the Creme Egg Chick is complete without mentioning the Creme Egg's delightfully munchable cousins..

So Mini Egg Awards go to the following posts:

Bob Schwartz with Does the National Association of Realtors really need an economist? posted at San Diego real estate.

John Lockwood with Nehemiah Down Payment Prevention Program posted at Sacramento Real Estate Blog.

Purva Brown with REOs, Real Estate Statistics and the Pricing Paradox posted at Sacramento Real Estate Gal.

Mike Mueller with Mortgage Haiku for the day posted at Mike's Minute....

Dan Green with Stop Asking Your Real Estate Agent If "Now Is A Good Time To Buy" posted at The Mortgage Reports Blog.

Ray with How To Improve Your Home's Chances Of Selling posted at Money Blue Book.

Nathan Blair with Was Governor Huntsman’s speech at the Economic Summit a bunch of ‘bull’? I don’t think so. posted at The Salt Lake City Utah Real Estate Blog.

Dan Melson with Non-Exclusive Buyer's Agency Contract - A Bet Consumers Can't Lose posted at Searchlight Crusade.

Brett Wilson with Are You A Typical White Person? posted at Real Estate Radio USA.

Joe Manausa with The Creative Cure For Selling Your Home posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog.

Nice work everyone! Thanks for the submissions.

By the way, are you like me and can't get enough of these gooey treats? Make sure you pay a visit to the Goo-ology Research Centre.

If you're a real estate professional who blogs, you may find yourself becoming known as an expert in your field. Once that happens, you can probably expect to start getting calls from the news media -- local or national.

For those who are looking for that kind of visibility, a mention in the New York Times is like hitting a home run, right? Even if you're only mentioned once in passing, hey -- it's the Gray Lady (via the International Herald Tribune for easier access if you're not a registered NYT reader).

But what if another blogger comes along, doesn't like the story, and ends up sideswiping YOU in the process? Not just any blog, either, but one of the most widely read and influential finance blogs on the face of the planet?

What do you do? For one blogger, the answer is simple. You put on your helmet, pick up you pugel stick, and go the comments section. File this one under reputation management.

Hey, that's a direct quote and we didn't say it so don't shoot the messenger. We bring it up because it was the quote that stood out most from the blogosphere this week and it came from one of NAR's own members, Athol Kay, a real estate agent in Connecticut.

Kay's quote stands out because of the context it comes from. A post this week over at the NAR Wisdom blog pontificates on why the National Association of Realtors needs a social media director. NAR hasn't exactly embraced the real estate blogging community with open arms and some bloggers have been criticizing the organization for not only this, but also for what appears to be a serious misunderstanding of what blogs are and how to use them effectively.

The topic sparked an involved discussion among commenters and even drew NAR's own CEO Dale Stinton to comment:

"I have been reading a lot of blogger comments about social media lately that suggest NAR is late to the blogosphere party. I guess the way I see it, we’ve actually been going to a lot of consumer and communication parties lately – but the bottom line is: most of these folks’ observations about our participation in blogs (no matter how kind or unflattering) are right!

"We need to engage in the real estate conversation everywhere, not so much to convince, but to show we give a hoot."

This feels like a pretty significant development -- NAR's CEO is now engaging directly with the blogging community. (We presume Stinton actually wrote the comments and they didn't come from a handler.)

While many real estate blogs are set up to be consumer-reaching channels and SEO prize-winners, the medium also presents an opportunity for the real estate industry to engage in informal and genuine conversations about serious issues that affect everyone in the business. Formerly more of a back-hallway-type discussion, blogs pull these points of view to the Internet, where agents from all over the world can read and participate.

And now we know that these discussions can get loud enough to reach NAR's upper echelons. Surely, that means something.

All RE.net eyes were on the LA Times story yesterday, "Realtor blogs help reel in clients, boost sales," that dives into the practices of some of the industry's top real estate bloggers.

We've been following this story for several years now -- starting in 2004 when we discovered a Florida Realtor, John Mudd, taking his business to new heights via blogging. (Sadly, Mudd passed away in 2006.)

Interest in blogging for real estate business is still heating up. We get e-mails and story feedback all the time from agents who are taking it up or looking to crack open a new blog.

But amidst all the exhuberance for realty blogging, there has to be the cynic voice who says, "This can't possibly work for everyone." Right now, that voice is HomeGain, which on Thursday published a blog post making a case against blogging (yes, we see the irony there).

Bottom line from our view is that blogging is working for some agents, though it may not be for everyone. Whether it's working or not, there's still a healthy amount of interest in this new prospecting technique.

So if you're interested in hearing more of what your blogging colleagues have shared about how they do it, further reading is here:

The Real Estate Blog Revolution (a three-part Inman New series on the trend)

Miami Realtor's condo blog landed him a job -- for 5 weeks (recent news story about a Miami Realtor's blog that landed him a job, then got him sued and fired)

Knight Citizen News Network's guide to limiting legal risk (something to check out if you're a blogger need some guidance on libel laws and other legal risks)

And there's always ActiveRain -- a network of some 30,000 real estate bloggers sharing their tips, techniques, questions and answers on the topic.

Of course, Inman News would also like to invite everyone to the conversation and networking at Bloggers Connect, slated for July 23 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

If you live in San Fransisco, New York, or Seattle, you may have come to the conclusion that blogging has jumped the shark. After all, your RSS reader is filled with local blogs galore, plus an assortment of feeds from blogs around the country. It's easy for the most tech savvy among us to conclude that real estate blogging is reaching critical mass. Lately, I've talked to a few bloggers who are leaning this way. The reality is, Fonzie hasn't even strapped on his water skies.

I've probably visited more real estate blogs than any human on Earth. In searching for additions to my REMBEX search engine, rarely a day goes by where I'm not visiting a new blog that covers real estate. Lately, I've been gathering data on the 50 largest cities in the U.S., and what sort of blogging activity is occurring in each market. This data is going into an interactive page for REMBEX that should debut in the next few weeks, but I thought I would share some of my basic findings.

Houston, the fifth largest city in the U.S., has no consistent blog coverage from a real estate agent. There are a few blogs, but none have been updated in the last month. Philadelphia (7th largest) is in the same boat. San Antonio, Dallas, Memphis, El Paso, and Detroit offer no more than one real estate blogger who consistently covers real estate in their city. I bet I may have missed some, but we are talking about a handful of bloggers talking to nearly 10 million people.

Regions that cater to vacation or retirement homes like Phoenix, San Diego, and throughout Florida fare much better. I think these agents likely embraced the idea of selling real estate through the Internet early on, and a higher number of bloggers does not come as a surprise to me.

Technology-laden cites fared the best. Seattle, San Fransisco and San Jose, offer a wealth of local RE blogging. Austin and Denver do as well, on a per capita basis. But none of these markets is really "over blogged."

Seattle is the most highly blogged real estate market. I count at least 16 blogs that cover real estate. Think about that. Sixteen blogs for a city of half of a million people. One blog for every 36,000 people. That doesn't even count the suburbs.

There could be 10 times as many blogs about real estate in Seattle, and I still don't think the entire market would be satisfied. I started my blog for the benefit of 27 clients. An agent that did business with even 12 of their readers a year would likely be earning a nice living.

I hearken back to the days of the Dot Bomb, when the experts said that the best days of the Internet were behind us. They were wrong then, and I think RE 2.0's critics are wrong today.

--Todd Carpenter - lenderama

You know you've hit it big on the Web when blogs are built for the sake of analyzing your every move. Just ask President Bush, Silicon Valley and the Housing Bubble.

By these standards, the National Association of Realtors must've hit it big over the weekend as a group of thus far unnamed bloggers launched NAR Wisdom, a blog "created out of frustration with the NAR," according to the site.

NAR Wisdom further explains: "They (NAR) seem almost completely out of touch with today's market, and the needs of real estate agents and real estate consumers alike." And the blog aims to pull together a discussion about NAR among bloggers.

As the national association for real estate professionals, NAR has some 1.2 million members and spends a lot of time and money lobbying for bills in Congress aimed at home ownership and various real estate business issues. NAR also has a relationship with Realtor.com, one of the largest real estate listings sites on the Internet. Agents who belong to NAR must subscribe to a code of ethics and are able to call themselves "Realtors" as well as join varios NAR-affiliated MLSs.

NAR Wisdom blog, though it appears to be just in the beginning stages, doesn't include information about contributing bloggers. The domain registration information at GoDaddy has the site registered to Jay Thompson of Gilbert, Ariz. (Could that be the Phoenix Real Estate Guy?) The site welcomes e-mails from those who wish to contribute.

The blog is still a baby, but has a few posts including one with a clip from a recent NAR commercial for Realtors.

NAR launched its own blog awhile back dubbed, "NAR in the News," which included media clippings and other posts about Realtors in the media. The most recent post at that blog is dated June 22.

NAR's Center for Realtor Technology also pens a blog, which includes tips on technology issues and updates on various projects the Center is leading.

Neil D. Kalin, assisant general counsel for the California Assocaition of Realtors, is dispensing free legal information to association members via a blog -- and he's seeking feedback from members on business issues.

Kalin's C.A.R. Legal Blog, launched in September, has featured posts about pest control inspections and repairs, contingency removal in purchase agreements, and homeowner association issues, as examples.

He states in an introductory post, "Do you think most real estate or legal blogs are, well, blah? I agree. I want to take the blah out of blogs. That should leave us with just the 'g' and the 's' ... Good Stuff or Gory Stories. My goal is not simply to teach you but to learn from you. I'll pick a topic and give you guidance about what the law or contract or C.A.R. says about it. Then it's your turn to tell me what really happens."