Susan Ross (US)

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FTC, celebrity influencers, and health claims

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in General
As the world struggles to move forward, our thoughts and support are with our readers and we hope for their good health and improving situations. Today’s post involves an FTC settlement that was announced just as New York was going into “lockdown” mode and so we wanted to make sure it did not escape your … Continue reading

Solar Energy, Trade Secrets, and Unfair Competition

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in Copyright
On January 13, 2020, a solar energy sales lead generation company settled a federal lawsuit against several defendants, including a former employee. Both the initial complaint and settlement described the important role of social media to the business. (Solar Connect, LLC v. Endicott, Case No. 2:17-cv-01235 (D. Utah Jan. 13, 2020) (stipulated permanent injunction).… Continue reading

Social media influencers and FTC disclosures

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in General
On November 4, 2019, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued guidance for social media influencers to help them comply with FTC requirements relating to endorsements and disclosures. We have previously covered FTC action and guidance (including advisory letters) in this area, but the FTC has refined and updated its advice a bit:… Continue reading

Social media and corporate executive responsibility

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in Litigation
Corporations that sell to consumers and are subject to consumer lawsuits commonly receive deposition demands for top executives. Corporations can frequently defeat these demands by showing that the executives did not participate or have control over the matter at issue. But a recent ruling from a federal trial court in California demonstrated how controlling social … Continue reading

Trademarks, social media and lessons learned

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in Trademark
On June 14, 2018, a federal trial court in New York issued a decision relating to a restaurant owner’s claim that the restaurant manager was using the owner’s trademarks on social media in violation of the federal trademark law known as the Lanham Act. The trial court denied the owner’s claim, in a ruling that … Continue reading

Social Media, Copyright & Photographs

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in Copyright
Many social media sites and pages encourage people to post and share photos. This activity creates an issue where the owner of the photos has not given permission for that use, as a photographer alleged in a recent Fifth Circuit case Stross v. Redfin Corp., ___ Fed. Appx. ___ (5th Cir. Apr. 9, 2018) (2018 … Continue reading

Celebrity Endorsements, Cryptocurrencies, and Initial Coin Offerings

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in General
Our readers may recall that 2017 brought warning letters from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to celebrities who had posted some photos on Instagram and the FTC has recently taken action regarding some undisclosed “material connections.”  A post on our sister blog, Regulation Tomorrow, describes the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission’s recent warnings about celebrity … Continue reading

Social Media Evidence and Pay-Per-View TV

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in Litigation
We have previously written about social media posts and advertisements being used as evidence in a variety of legal cases (most recently, a post relating to emojis).  A federal court in Pennsylvania recently used two social media advertisements—from a source the court could not identify—as evidence to support a finding of “willfulness” and to award … Continue reading

FTC and Social Media Influencer Endorsements

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in General
On September 7, 2017, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had entered into a proposed consent agreement with two individuals and their company that allegedly ran an online gaming community website that allowed users to gamble virtual currency.  According to the FTC complaint, the two individuals promoted the gaming site and not … Continue reading

Personal Brands, Social Media, and the Lanham Act

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in Trademark
On July 14, 2017, a federal trial court ruled on an interesting issue: could models and actresses, whose popularity on social media was a strong factor in determining their earning capacities, maintain a lawsuit under the Lanham Act against a “swingers club” that used their photos without consent?  In a case where social media played … Continue reading

FTC, Instagram Posts, and Endorsement Guides

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in General
On May 4, 2017, the public received access to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) advisory letters to approximately 45 companies and 45 celebrities/bloggers relating to potential “endorsements” on Instagram.  As a result, we now have some additional guidance on the FTC’s expectations with respect to its Endorsement Guides.… Continue reading

Social Media, Age, and the Entertainment Industry

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in General
Can a state law prevent a social media site from publicly posting accurate age information about individuals in the entertainment industry—even if that information is posted by users? The California legislature and Governor believed it was permissible, and the legislation went onto effect on September 24, 2016 (Cal. AB 1687, adding Cal. Civ. § 1798.83.5).  … Continue reading

Social Media, Copyright, and Blockchain

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in Copyright
Social media has changed how people and companies interact and has provided us with some technological innovations that have raised copyright issues. In an effort to keep our readers informed of some recent developments involving social media, we wanted to provide some background relating to some headlines combining social media, copyright, and blockchain, and we … Continue reading

Are your social media followers/fans/members authentic?

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in Fraud
We have previously written on social media account verification for businesses, in order to help customers deal only with the authentic brand.  But what about authenticating your social media followers/users/fans/members? Unfortunately, there are currently “no methodologies available that would provide us with an exact number of non-actual member types of accounts,” according to LinkedIn’s 10-K … Continue reading

In case you missed it – ICYMI

Photo of Susan Ross (US)Photo of Nerushka BowanBy Susan Ross (US) and Nerushka Bowan on Posted in General
The digital world moves fast. To get you up to speed, we have compiled a quarterly recap of our five most popular social media blog posts from the Social Media Law Bulletin and the post that is currently trending. From questions ranging from “Is my SnapChat really deleted?” to “Can I tell my employee to … Continue reading
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