What is the Annex Brands franchisee's responsibility regarding the access to their website?
Annex_Brands Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
y such persons. You are responsible for the personnel and agents to whom you distribute passwords. You must refrain from allowing access to our Intranet by any unauthorized party.
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- Your Website. We must approve any website (or equivalent electronic advertising) that utilizes the Marks before publication and approve any modification prior to publishing updates. If we establish our website, we will prepare and post a designated area on our website for the purpose of promoting your Center ("your website"). Your website will be accessible without charge to anyone with access to the Internet. You may not maintain another website without our prior written consent. (The terms "Franchisor's prior written consent", and "our prior written consent", as used in the franchise agreement, and its attachments, and this Agreement, mean consent that is given by Franchisor based on then-current circumstances, but that may be
withdrawn by Franchisor, if Franchisor later determines in its sole discretion that circumstances have changed, effective upon giving Franchisee 30 days' prior written notice of withdrawal.)
- (a) Standard Web Pages. The initial fee for creation and posting of standard web pages is currently included in your technology services fee, but we reserve the right to change this in the future. We will design the content of standard web pages.
- (b) Customized Standard Web Pages or Website. If we offer customization services, you may request us to customize portions of your standard web pages or create a customized website for you. We will not commence any design or programming work for you that will entail additional charges without your prior written approval. Once you agree, we will charge you at our then-current rate for design or programming services, and we may charge you an annual fee for maintaining a customized website for you. We will design the layout, including but not limited to determination of content, number of pages, consideration of alternate pages for graphics or text, and the overall navigation; create the programming code for display on the Internet including but not limited to the encoding of images, the creation of hyperlinking of both text and images, and the creation of email hyperlinking; and test the programming code. You agree to submit to us, in computer-readable, digital form, any additional text and graphics you would like us to include on your customized standard web pages or in your website. If a 3rd party owns any copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right which relates or pertains to any part of any content you deliver to us, you must obtain all necessary rights or licenses, at your sole cost and expense, so that our rights in and to such content will be no less than if such intellectual property right belonged to you and were licensed to us pursuant to Section 7 hereof. To post a website that you develop or to move an existing website to our website, you must submit the programming code to us to facilitate our development of your website.
- (c) Customized E-Commerce Services. We may make various e-commerce services available to you for reasonable fees. We will periodically notify you, in our Manuals, in bulletins, in our newsletter (360 Today), in postings on our Intranet franchisee support site, by email, by publishing a list, in writing or otherwise, of available e-commerce services, together with a schedule of applicable fees. We also may provide a method by which you may be able to offer websites to your customers and to offer to your customers some of the same e-commerce services that will be available to you. Currently, you are not required to use any of these e-commerce services, but we reserve the right to make this a requirement in the future. We reserve the right to discontinue or modify these e-commerce services, in our sole discretion.
- (d) Approval & Posting of Customized Standard Web Pages or Your Customized Website. For customized standard web pages, depending on the complexity of the requested customizations, we may either publish them to our website after the customizations are completed or send or present to you a copy of your customizations for your approval. For customized websites, we will either send or present to you a copy of your customized website or make such website accessible to you in an unpublicized portion of the Internet for your approval before we post your customized website in a public fashion on our website. We will not post your customized website in a public fashion on our website until you have given us your approval. You agree to review the customized website and, within a reasonable time, either to inform us of reasonable changes you would like to make or to inform us in writing of your approval, which approval you will not unreasonably withhold. We do not make any representation regarding the time it will take to post or to modify your customized standard web pages or customized website.
Source: Item 22 — Contracts (FDD pages 109–110)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 FDD, Annex Brands outlines specific responsibilities for franchisees regarding their website and online presence. If Annex Brands establishes a website, they will prepare and post a designated area on their website for the purpose of promoting the franchisee's center. This website will be accessible without charge to anyone with access to the Internet. The franchisee may not maintain another website without Annex Brands' prior written consent, which can be withdrawn with 30 days' notice. The initial fee for creating and posting standard web pages is included in the technology services fee, but Annex Brands reserves the right to change this in the future.
The franchisee can request customization of their standard web pages or the creation of a customized website, subject to Annex Brands' approval and applicable charges. The franchisee must approve any website (or equivalent electronic advertising) that utilizes the Marks before publication and approve any modification prior to publishing updates. Annex Brands will design the layout and programming code for customized websites. The franchisee must review the customized website and provide feedback or approval within a reasonable time.
Once the customized website is posted, Annex Brands may request the franchisee to verify the content for accuracy at any time, and the franchisee must promptly respond to such requests. Annex Brands owns all rights to advertising space on the franchisee's web pages or website and may include advertising or links to third-party websites without the franchisee's prior approval. The franchisee is required to notify Annex Brands of any website that features or lists them as a franchisee and to notify them of any new websites as they periodically list them.