Are there any legal liabilities of being an affiliate to a pharamcy?
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HarveyJ
He is - THE CACTUS!
Incorrect...
The answer to this question is actually regional, but I'm assuming you, Transistor, are from the USA.
In most states of the US, advertisers are just as culpable and responsible, legally, for a product that they are promoting than the actual manufacturer if the product they're promoting is misrepresented, or not the actual product advertised.
I've always been curious about kind of liability we take on as affiliates. Could you provide some examples of affiliates getting sued?
Just read Smaxors post after mine...to clarify I'm asking for examples of affiliates who got sued. Clearly poker, pills, porn is more of a grey area. I'm talking things the major CPA networks have. For example:
If as advertisers/affiliates we are legally responsible weren't there be tons of law suits against affiliates promoting ringtones using "Free" in their ad copy. That would seem like an easy case to win. (I know some CPA networks paid to settle some issues) Or don't you think we would hear of big time affiliates getting sued since it would seem to be easy for a lawyer to go after them for some shady product they are promoting then actually go after the company who is behind it. Think about the zip/email submits. The popular way to promote them is "Vote yes or No and enter zip code to win $500 gift card"...clearly deceiving. Plus it seems many affiliates don't setup or maintain a proper legal structure to protect their personal assets from being at risk. Most affiliates start out without forming a corporation or an LLC. These affiliates have their 9 to 5 and start doing IM part time. If they do setup legal structure like an LLC or a C or S corp they don't maintain them properly. (Just forming an LLC online doesn't protect you...you need to set up an operating agreement, keep minutes, etc) If affiliates really are so liable I would think lawyers would have a field day with all these affiliates and just go after their personal assets (house, cars bank accounts). Since no affiliate is 100% representing the product in its true light (thats how marketing is) and these individual affiliates don't have legal teams to check on every ad copy/LP/disclaimer/etc.
If as advertisers/affiliates we are legally responsible weren't there be tons of law suits against affiliates promoting ringtones using "Free" in their ad copy. That would seem like an easy case to win. (I know some CPA networks paid to settle some issues) Or don't you think we would hear of big time affiliates getting sued since it would seem to be easy for a lawyer to go after them for some shady product they are promoting then actually go after the company who is behind it. Think about the zip/email submits. The popular way to promote them is "Vote yes or No and enter zip code to win $500 gift card"...clearly deceiving. Plus it seems many affiliates don't setup or maintain a proper legal structure to protect their personal assets from being at risk. Most affiliates start out without forming a corporation or an LLC. These affiliates have their 9 to 5 and start doing IM part time. If they do setup legal structure like an LLC or a C or S corp they don't maintain them properly. (Just forming an LLC online doesn't protect you...you need to set up an operating agreement, keep minutes, etc) If affiliates really are so liable I would think lawyers would have a field day with all these affiliates and just go after their personal assets (house, cars bank accounts). Since no affiliate is 100% representing the product in its true light (thats how marketing is) and these individual affiliates don't have legal teams to check on every ad copy/LP/disclaimer/etc.
After watching a show on how some black market drugs are produced, I tend to stay away from it even though I'm sure some of the online pharmacies are legit. I can definitely see how there could be some negative repercussions from advertising the wrong company.
I've wanted to try pharma but after reading what happened to some U.S. affiliates at rxaffiliateforum i decided its not worth it to me
Selling fake pharmaceuticals online isn't a civil issue, its a criminal one. Pfizer doesn't need to sue you, because the feds will throw you in prison for them. If you can't even figure this much out for yourself with some basic research, you need to do something other than affiliate marketing.
HarveyJ
He is - THE CACTUS!
PSU4life: It's not about being sued, it's about jailtime for fake pharma.
Others are just cases of it being a generic that's marketed as the brand name.
I can't remember any off the top of my head, but I'm certain it's happened because I remember articles in the paper of people in Queensland getting some serious jailtime for pushing chalk instead of viagra.
If you're promoting a legit pharma affiliate, so long as you don't make false claims, you should be fine... Just research them a little bit, and ask your AM some questions about them.
Terms like "win" and "free" have certain limitations. To win something, there must be competition, in which case, there is a discernible chance of not winning (aka losing). Therefore, if you say "Win an X", and they don't win it, they are in the pool of non-winners... in legal practice, there MUST be a winner to all competitions, but who says that can't be you
Go buy yourself that $500 giftcard, bam, you're the winner. (Heh, the number of door prizes I rigged at the nightclub I used to run on that loophole).
With the use of the word "free", it doesn't haven't to pertain to the entirety of the service. If ANY of the service is free, sales puffery laws allow the use of the term in England, Australia, and all states that I know of in the US. Interestingly enough, in NZ, what is free has to be documented somewhere.
In any case, there ARE tons of lawsuits if you look up the public documents about it. Most of them are settled out of court with a silence order attached though.
[EDIT] Found one of Microsoft and Pfizer taking down some spammers: Q&A: Pfizer and Microsoft Strike at Alleged Spammers: Three of the chief investigators tell how Microsoft and the pharmaceutical giant came to file lawsuits aimed at shutting down spam rings allegedly pitching illegal and potentially harmful Viagra k
Others are just cases of it being a generic that's marketed as the brand name.
I can't remember any off the top of my head, but I'm certain it's happened because I remember articles in the paper of people in Queensland getting some serious jailtime for pushing chalk instead of viagra.
If you're promoting a legit pharma affiliate, so long as you don't make false claims, you should be fine... Just research them a little bit, and ask your AM some questions about them.
Terms like "win" and "free" have certain limitations. To win something, there must be competition, in which case, there is a discernible chance of not winning (aka losing). Therefore, if you say "Win an X", and they don't win it, they are in the pool of non-winners... in legal practice, there MUST be a winner to all competitions, but who says that can't be you
Go buy yourself that $500 giftcard, bam, you're the winner. (Heh, the number of door prizes I rigged at the nightclub I used to run on that loophole).With the use of the word "free", it doesn't haven't to pertain to the entirety of the service. If ANY of the service is free, sales puffery laws allow the use of the term in England, Australia, and all states that I know of in the US. Interestingly enough, in NZ, what is free has to be documented somewhere.
In any case, there ARE tons of lawsuits if you look up the public documents about it. Most of them are settled out of court with a silence order attached though.
[EDIT] Found one of Microsoft and Pfizer taking down some spammers: Q&A: Pfizer and Microsoft Strike at Alleged Spammers: Three of the chief investigators tell how Microsoft and the pharmaceutical giant came to file lawsuits aimed at shutting down spam rings allegedly pitching illegal and potentially harmful Viagra k
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