Advertisement liability
I am working on a startup that provides information services, kind of like dating website but for legal community.
I wonder what kind of disclaimers are needed for pictures that show people giving their opinion about site services. Like what linkedin has on their front page except users are not real. Right now I just put small text on the pic stating that this is commercial advertisement and that results may be different for other people. I basically took disclaimer that I saw during infomercial on TV. Does anyone have good resource where I can read up on this?
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Maybe take a look at the diclaimers used by lawpivot.com -- of course there is no guaranty they have it right, but it might be a good comparison. – Yorick 12 years ago
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Thanks guys for your answers. @JohnGB Your comment about limited cash touched my heart, you nailed it right on. But I think that the limited budget is what pushes most startups to think of new and creative ways to make money. There is so many wonderful resources online these days, most people should have enough to get by without lawyer until first round of financing. Like this forum for example, I read what everyone has to say here every day in the mornings when I drink my breakfast coffee and in the evenings when i drink my good night beer. :) – Alexei Rudnev 12 years ago
2 Answers
You don't necessarily need a lawyer, but you need to KTL : Know The Law
First, check out the FTC disclosure requirements for your type of service: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf (for a shorter read: http://blog.rafflecopter.com/2012/07/ftc-blogger-guidelines/ )
Also, lawyers have some extra rules related to advertising. It's not clear from the question if they would apply to you or not but this article might be helpful: http://www.totalattorneys.com/attorney-marketing/state-by-state-cases-and-the-new-landscape-of-lawyer-advertising/
As long as you have made it clear that it is an advertisement and not a representation of your customers you will be fine. But what is considered clear is somewhat subjective.
Your customers should be legal professionals, so you may want to ask one of them :)
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His customers being legal professionals, are more likely to sue for damages and false advertisement than an average Joe. I wouldn't just take a random example from a TV ad, but rather get a professional legal advice. – Littleadv 12 years ago
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@littleadv You could say that about everything. It's what the legal guys want. But as a startup you have to make choices about what is best to do with your very limited cash most of the time. If you were to seek professional legal advice for everything that may go wrong, you would fail as a startup. – John Gb 12 years ago
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Yes, but one should be aware of the risks. From your answer it may sound that if it is clearly marked as advertisement it doesn't have to be true. In many countries that would be illegal. – Littleadv 12 years ago
