Social media has revolutionized the way businesses market their products and services, making it easier than ever to reach a wide audience quickly and effectively. However, with the rise of social media marketing comes a host of legal issues that entrepreneurs must be aware of to avoid running afoul of the law. From intellectual property infringement to misleading advertising, there are many potential pitfalls to navigate. Read on for the top 3 issues.

1. Intellectual property infringement: Sharing content on social media can be a great way to market your business, but it's important to be aware of intellectual property rights. Sharing content that you don't have the rights to can result in legal issues such as copyright infringement or trademark infringement.
2. Misleading advertising: Social media is a popular platform for advertising, but it's important to ensure that your ads are not misleading or deceptive. This can include making false claims about your product or service or using misleading images or testimonials.
3. Giveaway regulations: Have you ever entered a giveaway on social media? They can be a fun way to promote a business and engage with customers, but there are some legal regulations that you need to be aware of to avoid any legal issues.
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   For example, if you're running a giveaway, you may be required to provide certain disclosures about the giveaway, such as any limitations or restrictions. You may also need to obtain permits or licenses depending on the location and nature of the giveaway. This can include things like sweepstakes registration or permits for events that involve food or alcohol.
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   It's important to make sure that you're following all of the relevant regulations and guidelines when running a giveaway. Failure to do so can result in legal issues and potentially even harm your business's reputation.

Action Tip: If you use user generated content, you can use your own hashtag to get implicit permission (e.g. "Tag us using #cllrocks"). But it's always best to get explicit permission by either DMing and asking or asking in the comments (e.g. This looks amazing, do you mind if we share it on our social media page? Respond with #yescll if it's ok).

🛍️ The Zara sale started a couple weeks ago. I didn't go crazy because I'm trying to limit my spending, so I got 2 pairs of jeans.

🍽️ I have a very weird quirk about me, I will only eat out of certain bowls, off certain types of plates, and certain type of silverware. Last week, I bought my favorite bowls and plates from Crate & Barrel. And they're super affordable!

Great resources to help your business + news

This month, a new law in California was put into effect. But this doesn't only affect California residents and businesses. This affects businesses who do business IN California. So if you have customers in California and have a membership or recurring subscription, this law applies to you.

On July 1, California updated the recurring subscription law:

Cancellation
​Now, businesses have to make it really easy for you to cancel your subscription. They have to put a big button on their website that says "cancel" so you can find it easily. Or, they have to give you an email address that you can use to cancel your subscription. Either way, it has to be really easy for you to cancel and you should be able to do it right away.

Notice
​The law also requires businesses to send a notice to consumers who sign up for trial periods that automatically convert to paid subscriptions or the price increases (if trial was a discounted rate).

This only applies to subscriptions that last for more than 31 days AND it's an initial free trial or trial at a discounted rate. If these are true, the business has to tell you in a notice that your subscription will automatically renew, how long the renewal will be for, how to cancel, and how to contact the business.

• If your initial trial is for less than a year, they have to send you the notice between 3 and 21 days before your subscription renews.
• If your initial trial lasts for a year or longer, the business has to send you this notice between 15 and 45 days before your subscription renews.

These rules are designed to make it easier for the subscriber to understand the subscription and to cancel it if you don't want it anymore.

Remember, this is for someone whose rate will increase after the trial. If someone gets this rate for the duration of the subscription, then this doesn't apply.

Did you know about this law? Should I do a deeper dive? Reply and let me know!

Here's what's you can look forward to at The CEO Legal Loft

Next week, my fellow colleague Tara, is opening up a new program, Launch It Like It's Hot, a complete set of launch templates and resources to help you launch, market, and sell your online course, membership, group coaching program, or digital product. I'll give you more info as it gets closer.

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