White Sand’s Sea Folly

That double tap, swipe right, or the pressing of that green send button only takes a second. The insignificant verbal thought has been transformed into a very real virtual speech bubble linked to your name and company identity. Social media marketing is the way of the future and it is changing how businesses market to businesses and consumers.  Social Media has an expansive reach which is one of its major benefits. However, it’s useful to remember the precedent set in the case of Madden v Seafolly in 2014.

In Madden v Seafolly, a passionate Mrs Madden – owner of the label ‘White Sands’ – took to social media to vent her beliefs that Seafolly had stolen her designs. Mrs Madden claimed that she was merely communicating to her friends on Facebook about her concerns. The Courts took a different approach, linking her comments to her business and enabling Seafolly to bring a claim that her conduct was in ‘trade or commerce’ and could be considered in connection with the ‘supply of goods or services’ and therefore caught by the Trade Practices Act.

This case made it clear that it is important to be careful when quickly clicking and posting on online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, as these are considered public forums and the comments you make could be considered to fall foul of trade practices legislation.