With the Internet and its options for start-ups sparking hundreds of new media ventures each year, the potential for legal troubles is also on the rise.

For small media outfits -- some of them virtual one-man bands -- all it takes is a legal scare or a lawsuit from some major company and any hopes of continuing are vanished.

But that has been eased somewhat with the creation of the Citizens Media Law Project. Launched in December by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, the project helps small media outlets facing legal challenges or who are in need of legal help with pro bono attorneys. Among its funders is the Knight Foundation.

Since it began forming in 2009, the project has signed up more than 100 lawyers who provide pro bono or low-rate legal help to needy media outlets.

“The idea behind it is to have a referral network to provide free or reduced fee legal services for qualified online journalism ventures and other digital media creations,” said Kimberley Isbell, a staff attorney for the Berkman Center. “It helps a broad rang of outlets, from start-ups to more established organizations.”

Of course there are the classic lawsuits against a news outlet that require help.

One of those was Christopher Elliott, who has run Elliott.org, a travel Web site, for more than 10 years.

A travel columnist for several outlets, including The Washington Post and Tribune Media Services, Elliott was sued last year by a Florida travel agency after a comment he posted was taken as derogatory.

“They had alleged I had defamed them and interfered with their ability to make money,” Elliott told me. He said he contacted the CMLP and they reviewed his case, then set him up with a pro bono lawyer in Florida. “We are about to file a motion to dismiss,” Elliot said. “Without him, I would have had to do everything myself.”

Helen Fu, a public interest staff attorney for the project, said some outlets simply utilize attorneys for start-up questions involving copyright or pre-publication needs. There have also been a handful of freedom of information act cases. “They have come to us seeking legal help and we are branching out into that,” Fu said.

Also seeking such assistance was Geoff Dougherty, editor of Chicago Current, an online political news site that launched last November.

Dougherty, who previously ran Chi Town Daily News, said they have also found a pro bono attorney to help with pre-publication reviews. “Reviews with sensitive stories, you really want to have that relationship in place,” he said.

Another client is Cy Kuckenbaker, an independent filmmaker who sought legal advice for a documentary on military bases overseas. “He aggregated a lot of material to a Web site,” Fu explained.

Isbell said many clients run what she calls “gripe sites,” which aggregate complaints or comments about a workplace, company or other target of criticism. She said those often prompt legal action by the subject of the complaints: “The company sues for defamation.”