This week the FTC announced that it finalized its revisions to the Endorsement Guides, which give advertisers guidance on ensuring that their use of endorsements or testimonials complies with the FTC Act. At the same time, the FTC also announced an updated accompanying guidance document, “FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People are Asking.” While the revised … Continue Reading
Cryptocurrency, social media, and celebrity or influencer endorsements have all been top of mind recently, including for advertisers. A newly filed lawsuit is asking a federal court to consider the intersection of these areas, with potential implications for advertisers looking to expand into the cryptocurrency space. EthereumMax executives (“Executive Defendants”) and a few well-known celebrities, … Continue Reading
The Ninth Circuit recently affirmed the district court’s dismissal of an action brought against YouTube and Google by a non-profit educational and media organization alleging a violation of the First Amendment and false advertising under the Lanham Act, as well as various state law claims.… Continue Reading
In a recent decision, the advertising industry self-regulatory body NAD recommended that influencer marketing firm Ahalogy tone down some of its claims about the capabilities of its new product, the Tri-Verified influencer marketing platform. The decision comes at a time when influencer marketing is becoming an increasingly popular— and challenging—field. Influencer marketing is what the … Continue Reading
By Lawrence Weinstein, Alexander Kaplan and Evelyn Pang on Posted in Injunctions,Lanham Act
A judge in the Western District of Wisconsin recently denied a motion for a preliminary injunction that sought to prevent a customer from criticizing the plaintiff’s products over social media. Buckeye Int’l v. Schmidt Custom Floors, 2018 WL 1960115 (W.D. Wis. Apr. 26, 2018). Plaintiff Buckeye sells floor finishing products, and defendant Schmidt is a … Continue Reading
Recognizing the growing role of social media and influencers in marketing today, the Federal Trade Commission announced on April 19 that it sent more than 90 letters to social media influencers and marketing executives reminding them to disclose relationships between brands and endorsers when promoting products on social media. Although the FTC has taken action … Continue Reading
Last Tuesday, the FDA issued two draft industry guidance documents advising pharmaceutical companies on how to accurately communicate information concerning prescription drugs and medical devices on social media and other Internet platforms. The first guidance contains recommendations for promoting medical products on social media and internet platforms with character limitations, such as Twitter or paid … Continue Reading
Farmville is a game that celebrates the digital harvest: players earn Farm Coins by diligently and systematically harvesting their virtual crops. Yet a different kind of digital harvest – the harvest of user data – was at the heart of two unsuccessful class action suits users filed against Facebook and Zynga. While the Ninth Circuit … Continue Reading
It appears that California’s consumer-friendly Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus & Prof. Code §17200 et seq. (“UCL”), encompasses claims made regarding website privacy policies. In In re LinkedIn User Privacy Litigation, No. 5:12-cv-0388-EJD, a Northern District of California court denied LinkedIn’s motion to dismiss a putative class action concerning LinkedIn’s allegedly misleading privacy policy statement … Continue Reading
How private is private? This is the question at the heart of a putative class action recently brought against Facebook in Toronto. Plaintiff Lavinia Latham claims, on behalf of herself and up to 18-million similarly situated Canadians, that Facebook committed a number of privacy offenses by extracting information from users’ private messages without permission and using that … Continue Reading
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