Social media influencers have transformed the way brands engage with consumers. As we discussed previously, this influence has created legal responsibilities that brands must understand and navigate when engaging influencers. For brands using influencers, well-documented influencer agreements are essential.
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In 2023, businesses paid almost $10 million in penalties for breaching the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) (Spam Act). This involved breaches by household names including Kmart, Ticketek, DoorDash and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. This was a significant increase in penalties from previous years, showing that consumers are fed up with receiving spam messages and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is as vigilant as ever.
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In recent years, social media influencers have transformed the way brands engage with consumers. Influencers carry significant power in shaping trends, opinions and purchasing decisions of consumers. However, this newfound influence has also brought about a set of legal responsibilities that brands engaging influencers must understand and navigate.
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In the vast expanse of the internet, domain names are like digital storefronts, essential for businesses and individuals to stake their claim online. However, amidst the plethora of legitimate domain registrations, a darker practice known as cybersquatting lurks. This phenomenon occurs when individuals register domain names in bad faith, aiming to profit from the reputation of established trade marks or businesses.
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Australia currently provides protections, via the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) (ASIC Act), against unfair contract terms (Unfair Contract Terms Regime). The Unfair Contract Terms Regime applies to consumer contracts and small business contracts that are considered standard form contracts.
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The metaverse is an interactive digital environment encompassing all virtual worlds, augmented reality and the internet. A space where users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users in real time. In simple terms, a 3D version of the internet. 1. Facebook’s nod to the metaverse Following Facebook’s rebranding to Meta, privacy concerns have been raised given Facebook’s history…
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Key takeaways Recent developments of ChatGPT has triggered debate surrounding the legalities of its content. ChatGPT threatens authors and artists whose work may be used in ChatGPT content without their permission. ChatGPT also raises copyright issues for those who use ChatGPT to create content, as without a human author, it can be difficult to claim copyright infringement. ChatGPT is an…
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Each year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announces its Compliance and Enforcement Priorities. In 2022-23, one of its priorities was to identify deceptive marketing practices across the digital economy. On 27 January 2023, the ACCC announced that it will be starting a sweep to identify misleading testimonials and endorsements by social media influencers. This comes as members of…
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Have you recently received a text that didn’t seem right? Maybe it looked like one of these: 'Your package is on its way: get it as soon as possible! Click this link!' 'Hello, I've seen this video of you on the internet! Click here to see!' 'Hi, do you need a part time job? Click this link!' If that's a yes...
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In early March 2022, Rod Sims handed down the ACCC's 2022/2023 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities. Some issues and industries of concern include manipulative digital advertising techniques, exclusive arrangements that impact competition and false 'green' credentials.
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