Ask Before Forwarding E-mails

Several times each week I get asked for guidance when it comes to forwarding emails written by others.  Should you ask the sender if it is O.K. before forwarding to those they may or may not know an e-mail they sent privately to you? A resounding YES!

Common courtesy alone would dictate you don’t forward without the original sender’s knowledge.   They may not appreciate the e-mail they wrote to you being sent to those they don’t know.  How would you feel if the roles were reversed?

All e-mails are naturally copyright protected by the author upon their creation. So in order to forward a private e-mail to another person, or to post it anywhere online you need to get the writer’s permission to do so first.

Cc’ing doesn’t negate asking for permission.  Private e-mails are sent and written to the party for which they were intended; not to be sent to others without obtaining permission first.  Cc’ing simply advises you are letting them know after the fact that you are forwarding their e-mail without any courtesy or concern for their feelings.

I have an article on forwarding on my site that you might find helpful that covers the 5 Rules for Forwarding

HTH!

You may also be interested in:

• E-mail Forwarding Tips and Advice
• Forwarding E-mails and Hurt Feelings
• Forwarding Other’s E-mail
• E-mail Forwarding Reflects on You!
• Stop the E-mail Forwarding!