I have 2 scenarios, both with the same question. Scenario 1: Someone writes an blog article for you for free so that they can gain a link back to there site. Do you need to have them sign a consent form? Scenario 2: You Purchase an article from someone, either on or off a article purchasing site. Do you need to have them sign a consent or release form of any sort?
Scene 1 will really depend on what you discussed. IMO a consent form may not be necessary. For scene 2 I think a much clearer agreement is necessary though.
If the person is writing an article on your blog and you set them up as an author then no you will not need consent. They will go in and write the article on your site in their account. I would not allow the article to be published until I read and approved it. This avoids the problem of having poorly written or spammy articles placed on your site. If you pay for the article they are yours. There are services available on many sites. I use fiverr often and get a lot of quality articles from there. I work directly with a couple of writers who do great work. You should do your research on whomever you decide to go with to insure that you get someone who truly can write quality articles.
Thank you for the responses. There is no forum and im not going to set them up to write on my site. In both cases the writer would hand over a text or word document. I agree that if you pay for something then there is no question of ownership. Im still a little bit fuzzy on if someone gives you an article. What if there doing you a favor and then 6 months down the road they decide they want to sell that article to a publisher?
If someone write for your blog expect link back to their site so its better to create your own interesting content post to attract related sites to link to your blog site.
I think its a matter of choice. A guest post necessarily needs a link to the owner's site/blog. If you want to sign a consent form, you possibly can but it all depends on the information contained therein.