E-commerce law

More and more makers sell their work directly. A musician offering merchandise and vinyl through their own webshop, an illustrator with a print-on-demand store, a publisher delivering straight to readers, a designer with their own label, a gallery selling art online. Selling over the internet gives you a grip on your audience and your margin, and it brings legal ground rules with it.

Liaise advises creative entrepreneurs on the legal side of selling online. We know the creative and media industry and understand what is at play when your work, your rights and your customer relationships come together online.

Do you need legal advice straight away? Call 020 675 88 21.

What e-commerce law is about

E-commerce law is about the rules that apply as soon as you do business online. The law of obligations determines how your terms and contracts work, consumer law protects your buyers, privacy law sets requirements for the data you process, and advertising law governs how you may present your offer. If you sell creative work, copyright also plays a role: the question of what a buyer is actually buying is rarely self-evident.

What we help you with

General terms and webshop terms.
Your terms set out the conditions under which you sell: delivery, payment, liability and what happens when things go wrong. We draw up terms that fit what you sell and that hold up if it comes to a dispute. Digital products such as a music download, an e-book or an online course have their own points of attention; we build those in.

Electronic contracting.
Online, agreements come about differently than on paper. When is a click-to-agree valid, and what is the evidential value of a digital signature or an email confirmation? We advise on how to set up your ordering process and your contract documentation, so that an agreement concluded online holds up if a question about it arises later.

Distance selling and the right of withdrawal.
With distance selling, buyers in principle have fourteen days to change their mind, but exceptions apply to certain products. A made-to-order work falls under those rules differently than a physical product from stock, and a digital product delivered immediately differently again. We help you determine which rules apply to your offer and how to record that correctly in your terms and your sales process.

Information obligations and transparency.
The law prescribes what information you must give a consumer in advance: about the price, the delivery, your identity as the seller and the right of withdrawal. We make sure your webshop meets those obligations, so that a buyer cannot back out of the purchase afterwards and you do not risk a fine.

Copyright and your own work.
When a physical artwork is sold, ownership passes, but the copyright stays with the maker, unless you expressly agree otherwise. With digital products you usually sell a right of use, not a full assignment. We record that clearly, so that you keep your rights and your buyer knows where they stand. See also copyright.

Platforms, marketplaces and intermediaries.
If you also sell through a platform or marketplace, that platform’s terms apply, and they are not always in your favour. We assess what you sign, how your liability stands and what happens to your rights. The same goes for makers who work with affiliates, agents or distributors: the arrangements with those parties determine how your work reaches the market and who profits financially from it.

Direct marketing and your audience.
Building a mailing list or newsletter calls for consent, a clear way to unsubscribe and clarity about what someone signed up for. We help you set up your communications so that you can keep reaching your audience without risking a complaint or enforcement action.

Cross-media revenue models.
A musician sells vinyl, streams and sync licences. An author sells books, e-books and lectures. A designer sells products as well as licences to their work. That combination of channels calls for terms and contracts that align with one another. We advise on the structure of your revenue model and make sure your rights are properly arranged in every channel.

Selling across borders.
If you sell to buyers in other EU countries, you cannot always rely on Dutch law. A consumer often keeps the protection of their own country, even if you have agreed otherwise in your terms. There are also rules on serving foreign customers and on VAT in cross-border sales. We help you set up your terms and sales process so that they hold up across borders too.

Privacy and customer data.
A webshop processes customer data, and the rules of the GDPR apply to that. For setting this up, from legal bases and retention periods to a data breach, we work together with our privacy practice. See data protection for what that involves.

E-commerce in the creative sector

Behind a print, a track or a design there is a maker with rights, and that makes selling online in this sector different from running an ordinary web store. May someone use a purchased print commercially? What does someone buy with a digital download, and what exactly not? How do you prevent your work from being spread uncontrolled after it is sold?

The contractual side deserves just as much attention. A licence you grant online is an agreement, and that agreement determines what the other party may do with your work. Good terms that have come about in the right way give you a firm basis if a question or dispute about them arises later.

Liaise looks at your webshop as well as your work, and makes sure your terms, your sales process and your rights align with one another.

Selling online with the legal side sorted

Liaise is based in Amsterdam and works for creative entrepreneurs throughout the Netherlands. You have a single point of contact who knows your sector and understands what is at stake when your work goes online.

Would you like to know whether your webshop is legally sound, or do you have a matter you would like to put to us? Get in touch and you will have a reply within one working day.