The TCPA: Basics, Targeted Industries, and Trends
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a split decision, gave further insight into what “unsolicited advertisement” means under the TCPA....more
The 4th Circuit held that offering a free eBook could violate the TCPA’s prohibition on “unsolicited advertisements.” PDR Network publishes the Physicians’ Desk Reference, which is “a compilation of medical prescribing...more
The 7th Circuit recently issued a decision in Smith v. First Hospital Laboratories, Inc., holding that in some “narrow situations” a fax offering to buy a product or service might be considered an advertisement under the TCPA...more
In Boone’s Pharmacy, Inc. v. Ezrirx, LLC,1 the U.S. District Court for the Southern District Alabama dismissed the plaintiff’s TCPA complaint against a sender of fax advertisements, finding a phone conversation between the...more
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently reaffirmed that an objective “four corners” standard governs whether faxes are “advertisements” that must meet the TCPA’s consent requirement. Separately, any fax that compares...more
On January 19, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit unanimously affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act claim arising from allegedly illegal faxes about a free educational...more
In an ever-growing string of losses, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the Northern District of Indiana in denying class certification to serial TCPA plaintiff Gorss Motels, Inc. in Gorss Motels, Inc. v. Brigadoon Fitness, Inc., —...more
Invites to free webinars are not unsolicited advertisements, says Maryland federal court - The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibits sending an “unsolicited advertisement” to a fax machine, absent certain...more
The Second Circuit recently addressed whether a faxed invitation to participate in a market research survey is an “unsolicited advertisement” actionable under the TCPA. In Bruce Katz, M.D., P.C. v. Focus Forward LLC, 22...more
Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri granted summary judgment for a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) that allegedly violated the TCPA by sending unsolicited advertisements via fax to...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently re-affirmed its position that manufacturers of products advertised in unsolicited fax messages do not face strict liability under the TCPA’s junk-fax provision. To...more
Recently, the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a TCPA putative class action without prejudice, finding that faxes inviting recipients to attend free continuing education veterinary seminars did not constitute...more
On September 21, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued a declaratory ruling clarifying that businesses advertised via fax should not face “sender liability” for unsolicited faxes sent without prior...more
On September 21, 2020, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued a Declaratory Ruling resolving a petition that sought confirmation that in instances in which an advertiser is “stripped of [its] ability to...more
A divided panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed the dismissal of TCPA claims, finding that the faxes at issue were advertisements within the meaning of the TCPA. Fischbein v. Olson Research Group,...more
Since the enactment of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), the FCC has long held that persons who knowingly and voluntarily release their telephone numbers have provided prior express consent to be called. But...more
In a recent TCPA junk-fax case, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals drew the intuitive conclusion that businesses do not incur TCPA liability whenever their products are advertised via fax. The proposition that strict...more
The Telephone Consumer Protect Act (“TCPA”) has seen lots of action in 2019, and in the final days of the year the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued a significant ruling concluding that “online fax services”...more
Under the TCPA, the difference between “informational” messages and “advertisements,” or “solicitations,” can be a subtle one, and, on many occasions, a business’s TCPA liability – and quite possibly its financial stability –...more
Perhaps not surprisingly, there was no vacation this summer for TCPA litigation. We already addressed the 11th Circuit’s big decision on Article III standing in Salcedo. But we’ve also combed through the 150+ TCPA-related...more
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court declined to review a Ninth Circuit ruling regarding what does and doesn’t qualify as an “advertisement.” Supply Pro Sorbents, LLC v. RingCentral, Inc., No. 18-1381, 2019 WL 1959304 (U.S....more
The Situation: The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently considered a "pretext" theory as applied to unsolicited fax advertisement claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). The...more
On May 28, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the District Court’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Defendants Optum, Inc. and OptumInsight, Inc. related entities...more
A fax sent by the defendant was “merely informational” and not an unsolicited advertisement, a Pennsylvania federal court has ruled. The Robert W. Mauthe, M.D., medical practice filed a putative Telephone Consumer...more
Finding that a fax promoting the commercial availability of the defendant’s referral and discount network could be an unsolicited advertisement, a federal court in the Western District of New York denied the defendant’s...more