Katarina Klaric, Principal, Stephens Lawyers and Consultants* Publication of defamatory comments on websites, social media and business networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn are becoming increasingly common and are causing devastating harm to both personal and business reputation and business losses. Some of the defamatory material published is of such an extreme… Read More
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by Katarina Klaric, Principal, Stephens Lawyers & Consultants A. Introduction Businesses using AI computer systems or technology to generate literary or artistic works such as reports, directories or other compilations, databases, computer software, digital images, designs or plans, are at risk of not having copyright protection. In Australia, such works will not… Read More
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the agency responsible for enforcement of competition, consumer and product safety laws in Australia has issued its 2019 Compliance and Enforcement Policy[i]. The ACCC’s focus will remain on product safety issues likely to cause serious harm to consumers and on conduct that will or has the potential to… Read More
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(March 2019) Companies are increasingly using software applications and tools, data storage and back up services which are provided as cloud based solutions (“cloud services”). The internet is used to access cloud based applications or tools, upload, download, execute, process and share data and content, all of which is processed and stored on external servers… Read More
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Data breaches involving individual’s personal, medical and financial/credit information can result in reputational damage and financial losses, particularly where the breaches result in identity theft. The Australian privacy law provides for an individual affected by a data privacy breach to seek compensation from the organisation involved in the breach. The individual may also have claims… Read More
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Tweets and Facebook posts and comments capable of conveying defamatory imputations The use of Twitter, Facebook and other social media for marketing and promotional purposes – whether it be the promotion of a new product, the dissemination of news or entertainment services, or the development of a personal or corporate brand – requires careful scrutiny… Read More
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Is Your Business Compliant? The Australian Consumer Law ( “ACL”) [i] provides consumers with rights and remedies against suppliers(including on-line retailers) and manufacturers of goods or services acquired by them that do not comply with consumer guarantees. The consumer guarantees provided under the Australian Consumer Law cannot be excluded, modified or restricted and are in… Read More
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Stephens Lawyers & Consultants – Information Sheet (March 2020) A strong business reputation, is crucial in today’s online and social media environment. Maintaining a good on-line business reputation assists a business in: Maintaining and attracting new customers and business opportunities, Retaining staff and attracting new staff, Increasing market share and growing the business network, Maintaining… Read More
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Franchising is one of the fastest growing business sectors in Australia. There are over 1120 franchise systems operating in Australia, with the number of franchisees estimated to be 79,000 [1]. The United States has had a strong influence on the development of Australia’s franchise industry with major U.S franchisors including KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut establishing… Read More
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The Australian courts have given a very broad interpretation of the definition of “franchise agreement” in the Australian Franchising Code of Conduct resulting in many dealership or reseller agreements, distribution agreements, trade mark licenses and IP license agreements being franchise agreements in Australia and subject to compliance with the Australian Franchising Code of Conduct. These… Read More
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