The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reached a settlement with a registered broker-dealer for having “…overstated its trading volume in numerous securities it had advertised through Bloomberg, L.P…..” According to the settlement agreement, “[o]verstatements of a broker-dealer’s advertised trading volume can therefore mislead market participants with respect to which broker-dealers are most active or possess […]
If a company offers a “FREE TRIAL” then charges the consumer not only for the cost of shipping, but also for the cost of the product, it is NOT FREE!!! Unfortunately, many companies use “negative options marketing” to deceive consumers by illegally signing them up for ongoing monthly subscriptions plans without their consent. Recently, the […]
The law requires that when launching a marketing campaign publicly, regardless of venue, it must be legally compliant. When a company purposely misleads consumers, it can potentially lead to lawsuits. In the lawsuit against Grubhub filed in May 2020, the complaint alleges that “ Grubhub, one of the largest restaurant delivery services in the United […]
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) exists to protect kids by requiring parental consent in order to collect children’s personal information for kids under 13. Unfortunately, musical.ly, now known as Tic Toc, even after settling with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for COPPA violations in February 2019 for $5.7 million, seems to have violated COPPA […]
What do Target, Wyndham Worldwide, Home Depot, Capital One, Zoom, LabCorp and other companies have in common? They all suffered cybersecurity episodes leading to lawsuits, some involving third party suppliers and service providers’ breaches. Given the need to work with third parties, how does a company protect itself? Among others, here are some things to […]
If your marketing campaign is using intellectual property (IP) that is copyrighted, do you need an IP clearance or can it be used under the Fair Use doctrine? The Fair Use doctrine has been codified by Congress in the Copyright Act, and it lists four factors to consider to decide if it’s fair use. 1. […]
Can your privacy policy protect your business? Google is involved in ongoing litigation for privacy violations. In particular, Google is being sued, among other claims, for disclosing recorded conversations to human subcontractors for review for functionality improvements. The Court decided that Google, by allowing humans, instead of robots, to listen to conversation recordings, violated its […]
Lack of due diligence leads to higher legal risk. As an entrepreneur, you know that starting a business comes with risk. As a venture capital investor, you know investments come with risk. BUT, why increase legal risk by failing to do the proper legal due diligence? Advertising, Marketing and Promotions Law applies to all businesses […]
Does your cookie banner acquire the proper consent? Different laws require different consent on websites. GDPR Cookies must: 1. Be transparent 2. Be easy to understand 3. Provide purpose and duration of cookie use 4. Be clear about third parties which whom data is shared 5. Provide a privacy policy link 6 Acquiring proper consent […]
It’s not too late!!! I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak next week, on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, for OWIT International on COVID-19 Marketing Strategies. Below is the link to register. Join me! To register, click on this link: https://conta.cc/35uyGS0 #substantiationequalstrust #transparencyformstrust #advertisingandmarketinglawyer #hispanicadvertisingandmarketingattorney
