If you’ve ever started an email marketing project and dealt with a client (or manager) who told you, “Look, we’re not spammers here, so we don’t have to worry about those CAN-SPAM laws” we’ve created some handy “stfu” documents you can give ‘em. They list big brands who’ve had to pay some huge settlements to the FTC for seemingly simple, innocent mistakes (that a lot of us have made), like:

• Forgetting to include physical mailing address in the email footer
• Failure to properly clean unsubscribers from a list
• Misuse of the word “free” in subject lines
• Not warning about inappropriate content in your subject lines

The documents are located under the “MailChimp Experts” group in the MailChimp Jungle community: Download them here.

The content is nothing new, as links to these lawsuits are all over the interwebs. But we just wanted to put it in a handy, printable guide. I’ve also included some little tips on “how this could happen to you” plus some food for thought at the end.

It makes a great gift for clueless clients, stubborn managers, and over aggressive sales people. Or, just print out a copy and drop it on your company lawyer’s desk.

Update: Rob Hassett, from InternetLegal.com, has contributed a couple topics on “Non-profits are not exempt” and “Affirmatve consent does not create an exemption from CAN-SPAM.”

While you’re perusing the MailChimp Jungle, be sure to check out Isabel’s collaboration for an email marketing project contract, and Tanya’s Yahoo Shortcuts discovery.