Influencer/Sneaky Advertising on Twitter

On the subject of influencer advertising, I’ve already said quite a bit here on the blog and in recently pointed out the applicability to Esport teams.

However, I would just like to stress once again that this case-law and the reporting obligations are not limited to certain platforms. Nor that you might call yourself “influencers” or not. Not even whether you think of yourself as an influencer. The term influencer is nowhere in the law, certainly not in the – compared to many other laws, quite short UWG. On the contrary, the case-law and the obligations concern anyone who acts commercially; and commercially, you act faster than many would like. The threshold for commerciality is NOT high.

So as I was browsing Twitter, more the post from @dermetzgercast caught my eye.

Look what came up ?
Thanks to @RuntimeGG, the next few hours of CSGO coverage in the @UM_League and @iBUYPOWER Masters 4 are secured ?
Especially the @UM_League shaker is HOT ? pic.twitter.com/Eulzkq6rJK

— der_metzger (@dermetzgercast) 17 January 2019

Therefore, I take this opportunity to once again point out the problem to everyone in esports (but also other industries). Based on the post, I assume Runtime.gg sponsored the Getränek, @dermetzgercast at least paid nothing for it. This would be a classic case in which it might be necessary to identify the exact circumstances, i.e. to use a ‘paid’ or other day, if necessary. At the moment, the case law is very strict, even if the Court of Appeal in Berlin has mitigated the problem a little. However, a prerequisite for a problem with influencer tagging is also not that there is a written contract between Runtime.gg and @dermetzgercast or that @dermetzgercast is even paid for the post.

As already reported in my last posts, the jurisprudence on this is very much in flux and the exact demarcations are difficult to draw. But if, especially as a perhaps small entrepreneur/streamer/influencer, one wants to avoid litigation, which can become very expensive in case of doubt, it is currently advisable to label more rather than too little.

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.