Need (Legal) Advice: Does posting of CT layouts require special labeling?

suladesign

suladesign

New member
With the new privacy laws in Europe, I'm getting really confused about influencer posting. I'd like to know from other CT members (and general scrappers who post layouts with credits) how they are dealing with the legal stuff when they post CT layouts on facebook, instagram, or their personal blogs.

According to the new laws, any product placement in posts requires clear labeling that this advertisement. So, if I was getting a shampoo from a company and posting about it, I'd have to make a note that I'm being sponsored by said shampoo company.

While compensation for CT members isn't monetary, we get the kit/product for free. So, that fulfills the legal condition that requires correct labeling. However, I'm absolutely not clear about layouts. We don't actually usually post the product (kit), but a layout using the product from the store. And since we are required to provide the credit of the products used, am I right that this fulfills the conditions of advertising? Does that mean I have to label all my posts where I upload layouts with their credits as advertisement/sponsoring?
 
Just a question... who would enforce this? Is someone checking your layouts that you post for labeling? And if they are... how do they know you live in Europe? Just curious. I'm just honestly wondering if it's the product designer who enforces it, or product company if they are located in Europe?

In my opinion, saying the designer's name or the name of the product is enough. If you wanted to feel safe, you could state something like "Creative Team layout for person person using kit name template name" something like that is more than sufficient I'd think. And, like I asked above, who is looking out for those things. I know I wouldn't, as I am not in Europe and the laws don't apply here.
 
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YepBrook said:
Just a question... who would enforce this? Is someone checking your layouts that you post for labeling? And if they are... how do they know you live in Europe? Just curious. I'm just honestly wondering if it's the product designer who enforces it, or product company if they are located in Europe?

In my opinion, saying the designer's name or the name of the product is enough. If you wanted to feel safe, you could state something like "Creative Team layout for person person using kit name template name" something like that is more than sufficient I'd think. And, like I asked above, who is looking out for those things. I know I wouldn't, as I am not in Europe and the laws don't apply here.
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I had the same thought. I honestly don't think anyone would come after a scrapper. I wouldn't be too concerned about it :)

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Actually, in Germany, there are state institutions who check out people's blogs, Instagram, etc. to make sure product placement in any post is correctly labelled as advertisement.

Every blog, facebook, instagram, twitter account, etc. needs to provide a real name with the true address etc. This is required since May 2018, and that's how they can find you and sue you. And they do. There's at least one institution that does only that: check people's posts to see if they're doing things properly.

There are precedence lawsuits against bloggers and posters, and most times these people lose their cases because the courts judge strictly. Even bloggers/posters who bought products themselves and posted about them simply because they liked them (no monetary or other compensation by the company, and no official cooperation with any company) have been sued when they failed to correctly label their posts as advertisement. And if you're posting anything anywhere you know how easy it is to mention a product you like simply because you like it. The same is true for youtube videos.

Legal advisers now recommend to correctly label product placement whenever it happens, simply because - even if said state institution doesn't find you, maybe other people/companies who are jealous of you sneaking in advertisement without acknowledging it - could sue you. And we all know there are those kinds of people out there. I was just reading up on all that because thus far I'd simply ignored things. But hearing how other people get sued just for blogging/posting about stuff they're interested in is kind of scary now. You're just this simple person and suddenly you become a target of law enforcement!

There are a good number of people who took their blogs offline because of the risks and their lack in legal knowledge about such things. But digital scrapbooking is such a niche, I couldn't find anything on it, yet. I guess the fact that I credit the designers and kit/product name for each layout whenever I post things makes it advertisement. No?

And then I don't even know if I have to go back to past posts to edit them (and my blog goes all the way back to 2010) and I've always done a lot on digital scrapbooking ... Does that mean I have to take down my blog, because there's no way I'd find the time to go back and correctly label every single post? Ack, it's such a mess!

I'd be happy to know if other people around the world have similar laws now and how they deal with it. I know the German laws come from European bills that have been passed.

And no, it's not a good idea to simply ignore this and hope you won't get caught. I have CT layouts that I receive compensation for (free kit), even though I rarely show the actual kit. Simply ignoring this, you can quickly find yourself in deep water ...
 
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Yes, it is insane!

Actually, I'm pretty sure that since I'm a CT member I have to label whatever I post as advertisement (at least when it's CT layouts, though I'd be on the safe side even with every other layout). I guess, my real question here is: Who do I credit the sponsoring to? The actual designer, or Sweetshoppe Designs?


I read a case yesterday of a gal who got sued and lost because in her Instagram post she didn't place the #sponsored hashtag first in the hashtag cloud but a little later on, somewhere in the middle. That's how picky the judges were. I truly think it's insane.

I have 2 sisters who are influencers. One is a professional blogger (who must pay attention to all this legal stuff or she can be fined insane amounts of money; she's been nagging me because I kept ignoring this for so long). The other just had a blog about lifestyle as a hobby. She had over 2 Mio. followers. (That would be a dream for most of us, right?) But she took her blog offline because she doesn't want to get fined because of her hobby.
 
This makes me so angry... it's such a lack of freedom. I hope this never happens in my country. :( I wasn't intending to say "ignore this and you won't get caught" I guess what I'm saying is... if the company, Sweet Shoppe, is based in the USA do you have to do label your pages? I don't know. And I don't feel like it's fair to come after people for breaking a law that is so unclear. Just my thoughts. I am not in Europe so I have nothing helpful to offer. Sorry. :(
 
It doesn’t matter where the company is based. It matters where the blogger and their social media accounts and blogs are registered. And yes, I’m upset, too! Europe calls these laws „data protection laws“ and privacy laws. Yet I don’t see how having to post my legal name and physical address when any stranger can now see where I live protects my privacy. Europe argues that this reduces online bullying because a person’s anonymity is removed.
 
Gosh, that IS crazy. We don't have anything like that here in NZ. Can you put a bold disclaimer at the top of your blog that the layouts on this blog are advertisements for Sweet Shoppe Designs? Saves you having to go back and rename everything.
 
So because they can't actually catch the criminal hackers, they go after everyday people with blogs? Sad.


I agree with Jacinda. I would put it in my header that everything I say on my blog, even if I'm talking about my cat, is advertising.
 
YepBrook said:
This makes me so angry... it's such a lack of freedom. I hope this never happens in my country. :( I wasn't intending to say "ignore this and you won't get caught" I guess what I'm saying is... if the company, Sweet Shoppe, is based in the USA do you have to do label your pages? I don't know. And I don't feel like it's fair to come after people for breaking a law that is so unclear. Just my thoughts. I am not in Europe so I have nothing helpful to offer. Sorry. :(
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I was thinking the same thing, Brook! Wow! I can't even imagine the government interfering on this level.
 
Years ago, people who had blogs and scrapped for designers had at the very bottom that they received the products for free, etc. I think I still have it on my blog, but I never use my blog any more because I've moved to other forms of social media.

Fast forward to recent....I've noticed more and more people putting hashtags #sponsor and other hashtags as well as putting a disclaimer on their layout post. But I do know, of who I saw doing it, wasn't from the States, so I never paid attention to whether or not we had to do it as a ct member--here in the states. Something like that, that is required, you would think the store owners would talk to their designers and let them know to let their ct members post specific lingo.
 
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