Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ADVERTISING NEWS: Florida reaches compliance agreement with legal publisher regarding negative option marketing, (Apr 4, 2016)
Organizations Mentioned:Juris Publishing
By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.
The Office of the Florida Attorney General has reached an agreement with Juris Publishing, Inc. and Jurisnet, LLC regarding the legal publishing companies’ use of negative option marketing in advertising, selling, and distributing print, electronic, and compact disc publications, the Office has announced.
The investigation was the fifth the Florida Attorney General’s Office has pursued in the legal publishing industry. The companies market and sell legal publications—such as treatises, journals, and books—to law libraries, law firms, accountants, government agencies, and other businesses. Some of Juris’ publications are updated periodically to reflect new developments.
The assurance of voluntary compliance resolves allegations that the companies placed consumers in automatic shipment and automatic subscription renewal plans without consumer consent or without clearly and conspicuously disclosing the terms of these plans. This is referred to as “negative option” marketing.
As part of the assurance of voluntary compliance, Juris is required to: (1) assure the terms of negative option plans are clearly and conspicuously disclosed for online, phone, and print advertising and sales; (2) follow provided disclosure requirements for trial offers, automatic renewal subscriptions, and automatic shipment plans, as well as prenotification negative option plans; and (3) obtain consumers’ express informed consent to the terms and conditions of the negative option plan.
The agreement also requires the companies to send a notice, offering a refund to each Florida consumer who—during the four year period prior to the effective date of the agreement—received and paid for a first update, supplement, or new edition in an automatic shipment plan, or paid for a first automatic renewal of a publication. Juris also will offer refunds to consumers who received a publication as a result of an asset purchase agreement with Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.
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