Companies contracting with consumers have to take care to ensure their agreement terms are enforceable. In one of the first post-Brexit decisions on issues in an online consumer contract, a UK court recently showed that principles of fairness and transparency remain vital in the terms and conditions of consumer digital contracts. In Europe, drafting digital consumer contracts requires extra care and thought to be given towards incorporation, meanings, and additional regulations in comparison to B2B…

Partner Christiane Stuetzle, senior associate Patricia Ernst, and research assistant Susan Bischoff authored an article for Law360 covering how online content service providers must act to mitigate risks and avoid liability under the European Union’s Copyright Directive, created in an effort to strengthen the rights of copyright holders by making certain platforms that host user-uploaded content (UUC) liable for copyright infringements. This article was first published on Law360 on May 14, 2021. It is also available as …

After the presentation of a general “European Approach to Artificial Intelligence” by the EU Commission in March 2021, a detailed draft regulation aimed at safeguarding fundamental EU rights and user safety was published today (“Draft Regulation”). The Draft Regulation’s main provisions are the following: A binding regulation for AI Systems (defined below) that directly applies to Providers and Users (both defined below), importers, and distributors of AI Systems in the EU, regardless of their seat.…

A recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Lemmon v. Snap provides a reminder that while Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides broad immunity to the owners and operators of websites and mobile apps, that immunity is not without limits. As a refresher, Section 230 provides that “[n]o provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another…

The Supreme Court has issued its much-anticipated ruling in Facebook v. Duguid, impacting many pending Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) cases nationwide and providing guidance to the many businesses that engage in calling and texting campaigns. The TCPA generally requires an individual’s prior consent to use an automatic telephone dialing system (an “autodialer”) to call or text his or her mobile phone, including for non-marketing purposes. The definition of an autodialer is thus crucial…

We’ve all been there: How many times have we downloaded a new social media app, only to have one of the sign-up steps ask for access to our contacts or address book? While on the surface the request seems innocent enough – the whole point of social media is to be social and connect with others – some apps may take that access too far, raising questions and both legal and ethical issues around personal data privacy…

In Stover v. Experian Holdings, the Ninth Circuit decided an issue of first impression for the circuit, holding that a party’s single visit to a website four years after her original visit—when she agreed to an online contract containing a change-of-terms provision—is not enough to bind her to an arbitration provision that she wasn’t aware of and that appeared in a later version of the contract. The panel held “a mere website visit after…