The Macron Law introduces major changes for this business sector.
- The definition of a legal regime for internet advertising
-
- Following a Judgment of April 17th, 2015 of the Paris Court of Appeal, internet advertising becomes subject to the ordinary law regime of purchase of advertising space on other media provided by Law Sapin of January 30th, 1993. Thus, online advertising shall be done by an intermediary acting on behalf of the advertiser, within a mandatory written agency contract.
- The regulation of online travel agents
-
- Following the FCA's decision No. 15-D-06 of April 21, 2015 related to anticompetitive practices of Booking.com, the agency contract binding hotels to online travel agents is henceforward supervised and shall include several mandatory provisions, such as the respect of the hoteliers' freedom to provide rebates and discounts to their customers, which de facto prohibits price parity clauses, whose anti-competitive effects have been decried by the FCA. In the case of non-compliance with such mandatory provisions, the online travel agents will incur a fine of €150,000.
- A request of transparency in terms of referencing
-
- Any website operator (including the search engines) using referencing techniques must henceforward publish online the general terms and conditions, clearly describing the terms of the referencing. In the case of non-compliance with such mandatory provisions, the website operators will incur a fine of €375,000.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
