Press Archives - Tauler Smith LLP Los Angeles Trial Attorneys

NBC Bay Area News Report on California Automatic Renewal Law

August 13, 2023/in Press /by taulersmith

Companies that do business in California are legally required to disclose an automatic renewal policy to customers before auto-renewing their subscription. A recent NBC Bay Area News report on the California Automatic Renewal Law (ARL) details how Chegg, an education technology company, has been accused of deceptively renewing subscriptions to a textbook rental service and then making it difficult for customers to cancel the subscriptions. The plaintiff in the lawsuit is seeking $2,500 in damages, which is what the ARL allows the court to impose against companies that violate the statute.

The Los Angeles consumer fraud attorneys at Tauler Smith LLP are seeking additional plaintiffs to join a class action lawsuit for ARL violations by Chegg and other companies.

KNTV San Francisco Bay Area News: ARL Claim Against Textbook Company Chegg

Battling auto renewal? Can’t cancel? Can’t get a refund? You have rights!

[…]

In Washington, the Federal Trade Commission is currently looking to toughen federal rules that govern auto renewals – and give consumers more power. When the FTC asked for public comment this spring, it got more than a thousand of them. Some businesses and business groups bristled. For example, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce commented that the FTC was imposing “substantial and burdensome regulations on the business community.”

The federal auto-renew fight is just beginning. But it’s settled in California. A little-known law called the California “Auto Renewal Law” is already on the books. “The fundamental aspect of the law, the way it’s phrased and how it’s designed, is to make it as easy to get out of as it was to get into it,” said Doug Allen, Assistant District Attorney in the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office.

[…]

“This isn’t the biggest case out there, but I think it’s an important case nonetheless,” said attorney Robert Tauler. He filed a federal suit in San Jose. Tauler argues Chegg did “not use bold, highlighted, all-capitalized, or different-colored text for the automatic renewal terms” when Sheri signed up. He’s asking the court to order Chegg to refund Sheri – plus any other auto-renewed customers like her. Tauler wants a class action – to set some precedent. “I’d like businesses to be on the lookout that they should comply – whether they are large or they are small,” he said.

You can see the entire report on the NBC Bay Area News website.

NBC Los Angeles News Report on California’s ARL

July 27, 2023/in Press /by taulersmith

When a customer uses the internet to sign up for a subscription service that automatically renews, there are rules that the subscription company needs to follow in order to comply with both federal and state consumer fraud laws. For example, the California Automatic Renewal Law (ARL) imposes disclosure requirements on businesses. The ARL also requires businesses to make it easy for consumers to cancel their subscriptions. An NBC Los Angeles News Report on California’s ARL details recent consumer lawsuits filed by Tauler Smith LLP against companies that have violated automatic subscription renewal laws.

KNBC Los Angeles Report on California Automatic Renewal Law Violations

Your automatic subscription renewal should be easy to cancel, but many aren’t, and it’s against the law. Companies are supposed to let you know how much they’ll charge you and when. If they don’t, you can take them to court and could be awarded $2,500.

[…]

Douglas Allen is an assistant district attorney in Santa Cruz County. He’s also a member of a state task force set up to enforce the automatic renewal law. “Frankly, we’ve seen some pretty egregious violations of the law,” he said. Allen said most companies comply with the law, but some make it especially difficult for customers to cancel their subscriptions. “There’s a lot of money to be made in the auto-renewing contracts. And the less savory companies expect to make their money because they deceive people into three or four auto-renewals before they realize what they’ve signed up for,” he said. In the past eight years, Allen said the task force has investigated 45 companies; 15 were found in violation of the law, resulting in $16 million in fines.

View the full report on the NBC Los Angeles website.

Rolling Stone Article on Exploitation by Unruly Agency

March 17, 2022/in Press /by taulersmith

As the subscription-based platform OnlyFans has exploded in popularity over the past few years, so too has a cottage industry of management companies and agencies. One of the most well-known companies, Unruly Agency, is now facing new lawsuits from two influencers who allege that Unruly pressured them into posting sexually exploitative content and threatened them when they tried to leave the agency. In two separate filings, model and lifestyle influencers Sarah Stage and Jessica Quezada are accusing Unruly Agency of trapping them into exploitative contracts and posting nude and sexual photos without their consent.

[…]

In 2021, the Daily Beast reported that a former client identified only as Jane Doe was suing the agency, alleging that it had posted an NSFW video of her to her public page without her permission and that they had threatened her with legal action when she tried to leave the company. “These guys are basically pimps,” Jane Doe’s attorney Robert Tauler told the Daily Beast.

Read the full article on the Rolling Stone website.

Unruly Agency Accused of Exploiting OnlyFans Creators

December 16, 2021/in Press /by taulersmith

A growing chorus of clients and current and former workers at the social media management company Unruly say the agency has engaged in deceptive recruitment practices that locked them into agreements threatening six-figure penalties for contract breaches and handing over expansive control of their personal lives, while demanding work they hadn’t realized they’d signed up for and, in some cases, publishing nude images of them without their consent.

Read the full article on BuzzFeed.

OnlyFans Model Sues Unruly Agency for Revenge Porn

August 26, 2021/in Press /by taulersmith

An OnlyFans model is suing Unruly Agency, a company that manages social-media accounts for influencers, alleging it took and distributed nude photographs of her without her permission.

The suit was filed Monday and claims the model, identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe, had “made clear to Unruly on multiple occasions” that she was “not comfortable with the publication of nude images due to her career plans after modeling.” It alleges that Unruly “covertly took nude photographs” while she was changing at a photo shoot.

The model also claims that when she tried to end her business relationship with Unruly, for an unrelated reason, the company published a nude photo of her on the subscription-content platform OnlyFans, “likely” in an act of “retaliation” which, she claims, constitutes “revenge porn,” under a California statute.

Read the full article on Business Insider.

Model Accuses Unruly Agency of Exposing Nudes & Threats

July 24, 2021/in Press /by taulersmith

Unruly Agency reps some of the biggest influencers on Instagram and OnlyFans. But content creators are warning others to stay far away, and one model is suing the agency.

With the likes of influencer Tana Mongeau, YouTuber Daisy Keech, Too Hot to Handle cast member turned TikTok provocateur Harry Jowsey, the Clermont Twins, and dozens of other social media stars and models on its roster, the Unruly Agency seems to be the place that could take an influencer’s brand to new heights.

But clients and contractors who worked with Unruly and Behave Agency—Unruly’s spinoff for smaller influencers—are warning others against signing with either of the firms, citing sketchy business practices and a ruthless cash-grab attitude.

Read the full article on The Daily Beast.

Do Businesses Need Liability Protection for COVID-19?

October 20, 2020/in Press /by taulersmith

California commercial litigators are paying close attention to new laws under consideration during the coronavirus pandemic. The reality is that COVID-19 has caused significant problems for a lot of businesses, especially those that were forced to close down or limit access. One way that Republicans in the United States Congress are responding is by attempting to pass legislation that would give businesses strong protections against being sued by workers and customers who become ill. If this law passes, anyone who gets sick while in a retail store or in an office would find it almost impossible to bring a successful lawsuit against the business.

Do businesses need liability protection for COVID-19? Keep reading this blog to learn more.

Los Angeles Commercial Litigator Robert Tauler Quoted in Article About Coronavirus Legislation

Inc. Magazine recently asked Los Angeles commercial litigator Robert Tauler for his opinion on the GOP’s proposed COVID-19 legislation that would make it more difficult for employees and consumers to file civil suits against businesses. Here are a few excerpts from that article:

This…is the nightmare business scenario that the GOP hoped to avoid by proposing to enhance liability protections for businesses in its version of a Phase 4 stimulus bill, dubbed the Heals Act. The legislation would raise the bar for filing liability claims surrounding Covid-19. Rather than requiring plaintiffs to prove a company did not take reasonable care to prevent injury, sickness, or death on their premises–the current standard of liability–it would require them to prove that a company acted grossly unreasonably.
“They have to show that the exposure caused the plaintiff to contract the coronavirus,” and that the business did nothing to prevent consumers from getting sick, says Robert Tauler, managing partner at Tauler Smith, a Los Angeles law firm that focuses on commercial litigation. “That is a very, very difficult standard to meet,” he says, adding: “It would basically cut any lawsuit off at the knees.”

Read the full article on Inc.com.

Why Paper Magazine’s Instagram Account Disappeared

July 17, 2020/in Press /by taulersmith

If anyone is wondering why Paper Magazine’s Instagram account disappeared, a lawsuit filed against copyright trolls in California federal court might explain why. The suit alleges that the defendants got the publication’s Instagram account disabled and effectively banned as part of an “extortionate strategy” connected to related copyright infringement claims.

To learn more about the developing case, keep reading this blog.

Paper Magazine Files Lawsuit Alleging Extortion by Copyright Trolls

In a lawsuit filed on July 8, 2020 in U.S. District Court, the magazine’s parent company ENTtech Media Group says it has fallen victim to an scheme by a group of photo companies weaponizing copyright claims to extract a settlement for roughly $1 million. The civil suit alleges that the copyright trolls forced Instagram to take down Paper Magazine’s social media account by sending an overwhelming number of take-down notices related to alleged copyright violations. ENTtech Media argues that the defendants’ strategy was basically an extortion attempt.

Click here to read the full article on WWD.com.

What Happened to Paper Magazine’s Instagram Account?

July 17, 2020/in Press /by taulersmith

Yahoo! recently published an article about a lawsuit that helps to explain exactly why the Paper Magazine Instagram account suddenly disappeared from the internet. The answer is that the account was taken down in response to a different lawsuit alleging copyright infringement. That legal action was initiated by copyright trolls who were looking to pressure Paper Magazine’s parent company, ENTtech Media Group, into paying a quick cash settlement.

Yahoo! Article on Copyright Trolls Weaponizing Lawsuits

The Yahoo! article provides information about how ENTtech Media Group is fighting back against a group of photo companies who allegedly tried to weaponize copyright claims and extract a $1 million settlement. Those copyright trolls have been accused of aggregating several copyright infringement claims related to photos used in Paper Magazine’s Instagram posts. When Paper Magazine’s parent company refused to back down and give in to the threats of legal action, the copyright trolls allegedly inundated Instagram with a large number of take-down requests. This prompted Instagram to shut down the Instagram account as a matter of policy.

ENTtech has now issued a strong response to the “extortionate” tactics used by the copyright trolls. ENTtech is arguing that the photo companies are taking advantage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and exploiting DMCA protections as a way to extort money from legitimate businesses and copyright holders.

Click here to read the full article on Yahoo! Life.

Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Drops Case After Suing On Behalf Of The Wrong Party And Trying To Swap Plaintiffs

Why oh why do people still hire copyright troll Richard Liebowitz? There are just so many stories of him messing up copyright cases and getting scolded by judges, you’d think that people would think twice. But then, yet another story of Liebowitz messing up comes to light. The latest is a real doozy.

Click here to read full article on TechDirt.com.