More and more start-up businesses are seeking funding on websites such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo, promising small rewards to individual investors in return for micro-contributions. These include the Veronica Mars movie, which raised millions of dollars by promising small contributors posters, DVDs and movie scripts, and a space telescope project that offered “space selfies.” But keep in mind that these promises are a legal obligation – so if you end up getting hundreds or even thousands

Companies cannot require workers to receive payment of their wages via “payroll cards,” according to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Payroll cards have become popular recently, especially in the retail and food service industries. But under federal law, a company can’t make the cards the exclusive way it offers to pay wages. State laws may impose further restrictions on the cards.

If you sign a licensing agreement to sell someone else’s products, but that person already has an exclusive license with a third party to sell the same products, you could be legally on the hook. That’s a lesson that J.C. Penney learned the hard way, after it signed an agreement with Martha Stewart to sell a variety of her housewares in special dedicated sections of its stores. The problem was that Martha Stewart had previously signed

A car dealership couldn’t be held liable in court for a salesman who sexually assaulted a customer, according to the Texas Court of Appeals. The customer had brought her car in for service and was waiting for a shuttle bus to take her home. The salesman offered to drive her home in his personal car, and she claimed that along the way, he made improper advances. The dealership immediately fired the salesman. The customer sued the

If you lease a store or other business and someone trips and falls outside the building, are you legally responsible? That often depends on what’s in your lease – so this is something you may want to think carefully about when you negotiate. This issue came up recently when a woman named Sabena Beriy fell on what she claimed was a poorly maintained curb outside a P.F. Chang’s China Bistro restaurant. P.F. Chang’s had leased the

You can’t obtain a patent for taking some ordinary process in the real world and coming up with a computer program that makes it easier, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. The decision is important because many companies have been trying to patent their apps and other programs to keep competitors from taking their business away. In the Supreme Court case, a company called the Alice Corporation tried to patent an online system to reduce risk

If you’re using social media to market your business, that’s terrific – but you should be aware that the same legal rules that apply in the “real world” also apply to Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other venues. Many companies have rushed into social media marketing plans without considering the legal issues. Here’s a quick look at some of the problems that can result: Improper endorsements. Many social media campaigns solicit endorsements, testimonials and favorable reviews from