Social media sites are transforming not only the daily lives of consumers, but also how companies interact with consumers. Here at Morrison Foerster, across all of our practice groups, we are seeing complex, cutting-edge legal issues arising out of social media. As with the Internet boom during the mid-to-late 1990s, social media is generating new legal questions at a far faster pace than the law’s ability to provide answers to such questions. In an effort to stay on top of these emerging issues, and to keep our clients and friends informed of new developments, Morrison Foerster publishes this blog devoted to the law and business of social media.<h2>ABOUT MORRISON FOERSTER</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

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Aaron is the chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals.Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data- and technology-intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud-based technology, digital media (social media, AR/VR, gaming, streaming media, AdTech), AI, healthcare, consumer electronics, e-commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on branding and marketing, trademark licensing, and content-related transactions, as well as the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin-offs, and private equity investments.He has represented clients such as Autodesk, Meta, OpenAI, Splunk, Konami, Kaiser Permanente, SoftBank, Visa, and Yahoo, among others.Aaron has been recognized by numerous publications for his work on market-defining technology transactions. He is currently ranked by Chambers USA for “Technology Transactions.”Aaron also serves as co-editor of Socially Aware, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics. Aaron is also a sought-after speaker on new and emerging areas of law, and is a frequent presenter and panelist at conferences and legal services programs. In addition to his active practice, Aaron regularly provides pro bono assistance to various nonprofit and charitable organizations such as Common Sense Media and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. He is a member of the board of directors of California Lawyers for the Arts.While in law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Aaron served as executive editor of the California Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Following law school, Aaron served as law clerk to the Honorable William H. Orrick and the Honorable Martin J. Jenkins, both United States District Judges for the Northern District of California.

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Aaron is the chair of our Technology Transactions Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals. Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data– and technology–intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud computing, AR/VR, AI, gaming, healthcare, consumer electronics, social media, e–commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin–offs, and private equity investments.

Aaron P. Rubin

Lawrence Gallick is of counsel in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.Lawrence focuses his practice on technology transactions and licensing matters. His diverse experience includes advising on SaaS agreements, cross-licensing agreements, research and collaboration agreements, development agreements, and distribution agreements. He counsels a broad range of companies across the software, hardware, life sciences, biotech and FinTech spaces, as well as other entities including universities.He advises clients in connection with general corporate matters including contract negotiations, and leasing and technology placement agreements.Lawrence also serves as co-editor of <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/" target="_blank">Socially Aware</a>, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics.Prior to joining the firm, Lawrence was counsel at another major law firm. Before earning his law degree, Lawrence was a web consultant, project manager, and web developer in Portland, Oregon, where he managed and consulted on projects using industry methodologies and performed custom development and integration of content management systems.Lawrence was named a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2015 and 2018–2022, and is licensed in both California and New York. Lawrence earned his J.D. from the University at Buffalo School of Law, where he was the electronic systems editor for the Buffalo Law Review and awarded the ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Intellectual Property Law.

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Lawrence Gallick

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster.Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions. His clients include technology, digital media and content for television and music, financial services, and communications companies with diverse intellectual property assets and issues.His practice focuses on the legal aspects of developing, licensing, and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts, including outsourcing transactions, as well as content and data licenses. He regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to licensing and commercialization of digital media and content, digital content that is distributed over the Internet or streamed, mobile applications and social media, as well as the licensing of recorded music for distribution via digital platforms. Anthony is also experienced with issues relating to open-source software, software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud-based technology, and protection of proprietary information.Anthony has extensive experience working on matters involving disruptive technologies, such as blockchain. He has helped fintech clients with general intellectual property issues in connection with terms of service for online financial products and services.Anthony is an integral part of the outside pro bono legal team for nonprofit organizations based in New York, including advising clients on legal issues regarding entertainment, social media, privacy rights, and the negotiation of outsourcing and service agreements. Anthony received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2009. He received his B.S. from Cornell University in 2004.

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Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster. He advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. His clients include technology, media, and communications companies with considerable intellectual property assets. His practice focuses on the legal aspects of licensing and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts. He also regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to mobile applications and social media.

Anthony M. Ramirez

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Courts have generally categorized online agreements into two types: “clickwrap” agreements and “browsewrap” agreements. Clickwrap agreements—which require a use

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Clickwrap, Browsewrap and Mixed Media Contracts: A Few Words Can Go a Long Way

Clickwrap, Browsewrap and Mixed Media Contracts: A Few Words Can Go a Long Way | Socially Aware

J. Alexander Lawrence

Courts have generally categorized online agreements into two types: “clickwrap” agreements and “browsewrap” agreements.Clickwrap agreements—which require a user to check a box or click an icon to signify agreement with the terms—are <a href="http://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2015/10/06/three-steps-to-help-ensure-the-enforceability-of-your-websites-terms-of-use/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">usually enforceable </a>under U.S. law, even where the terms appear in a separate hyperlinked webpage but where language accompanying the box or icon indicates that checking the box or clicking the icon indicates assent to such terms.On the other hand, browsewrap agreements—where the terms are passively presented to users in a hyperlink somewhere on a webpage, often at the very bottom of the page in small font—are often unenforceable because it often cannot be proved the user knew the terms existed or even was aware of the hyperlink.A New Jersey court recently faced a type of online agreement that did not fit nicely into either category. Where a contract, sent electronically but signed in hard copy, contains a hyperlink to a separate terms and conditions page, are those separate terms incorporated into the agreement? In <a href="http://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/new-jersey/njdce/1:2014cv06115/309882/8/0.pdf?ts=1437567894" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Holdbrook Pediatric Dental, LLC, v. Pro Computer Service, LLC</a>, the New Jersey court said no. A requirement to arbitrate disputes buried in the online terms and conditions page was not incorporated into a contract where the contract merely stated “Download Terms and Conditions” near the signature line.Again, the signed contract did not itself contain an arbitration clause. Rather, on the last page of the contract, directly above the signature line, the following appeared in small text: “&lt;a href=“http://www.helpmepcs.com/site_media/terms.conditions.pdf”&gt;Download Terms and Conditions &lt;/a&gt;”, which, if viewed in HTML, would instead appear as “Download Terms and Conditions”. Holdbrook’s office manager, Nancy McStay, received the contract in electronic form where the hyperlink was clickable, but then printed and signed a hard copy. PCS argued that because McStay signed the contract, one could assume that she read and agreed to the entire agreement, including the hyperlinked terms and conditions. Holdbrook disagreed. They argued that the contract did not incorporate the terms and conditions for several reasons.First, the online terms and conditions contained a separate signature block, suggesting that it required additional acceptance, and Holdbrook never signed onto those terms.Second, Holdbrook claimed that McStay had no idea that additional terms were being incorporated, given the garbled coding of the hyperlink in the printed copy and the fact that the contract contained no clause specifically pointing to the separate terms and conditions.Applying New Jersey contract law, the court held that “a separate document may be incorporated through a hyperlink, but the traditional standard nonetheless applies: the party to be bound must have had reasonable notice of and manifested assent to the additional terms.”After describing clickwrap and browsewrap agreements, the New Jersey court examined two key cases in this area, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12279872483928107605&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fteja v. Facebook, Inc.</a> (which we’ve <a href="http://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2014/10/06/implementing-and-enforcing-online-terms-of-use/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discussed</a> previously) and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8017790823527790710&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Swift v. Zynga Game Network, Inc.</a> In Fteja, a New York court found that a user had sufficient notice of Facebook’s terms of service even though the terms were only visible to the user during sign-up via hyperlink (like a browsewrap). A notice above the “Sign Up” button stated that “By clicking Sign Up, you are indicating that you have read and agree to the Terms of Service” (like a clickwrap).Similarly, in Swift, a California court found that a hyperlink to the terms of services that appeared right below an “Accept” button—along with a statement that clicking “Accept” meant the user accepted the terms—was sufficient to prove the user agreed to those terms.The New Jersey court explained that the fact that this case involved “mixed media” did not matter. The contract was “much like the ‘clickwrap’ agreements in Fjeta [sic] and Swift, where the ‘Terms and Conditions’ were contained in a hyperlink immediately next to a mechanism for accepting the agreement. In place of an ‘I Accept’ icon to be clicked, a Holdbrook representative was required to sign the agreement on paper.”However, the New Jersey court found one crucial component to be missing. In Fteja, Swift and other clickwrap cases, a statement draws “the user’s attention to the hyperlink” that is “sufficient to provide reasonable notice that assent to the contract included assent to the additional terms.” The New Jersey court noted that there was no such statement in this case, nor instructions to sign the contract only if Holdbrook also consented to the additional terms. The hyperlink, standing alone, was insufficient to show that Holdbrook had “reasonable knowledge” that the terms and conditions were part of the contract.“Further complicating matters” was the fact that the contract was sent in electronic form but could not be accepted in electronic form. It had to be printed and signed. This made it even less clear that the hyperlink contained additional terms.The New Jersey court noted that discovery might show that Holdbrook actually reviewed the contract electronically, noticed the hyperlink and agreed to its terms. In fact, after conducting some limited discovery, PCS has filed a new motion to compel arbitration, which, as of the date of this post, is currently pending before the court.Like the courts in Fteja, Swift and other clickwrap cases, the New Jersey court took careful note of the language that surrounded the hyperlink to the terms and conditions to determine whether Holdbrook reasonably understood those additional terms were included in the contract. It seems that, for the court, PCS’s “Download Terms and Conditions” was just a little too similar to a “browsewrap” agreement to be found enforceable without further inquiry into whether Holdbrook in fact was aware of and agreed to the terms.PCS could have likely avoided the issue entirely by simply including the following language in the signed agreement: “By signing the agreement, you also accept the Terms and Conditions on the PCS website.”When it comes to clickwrap versus browsewrap agreements, a few words can go a long way.