Does Burros Fries retain the right to approve any linking to or other use of its website by a franchisee?
Burros_Fries Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
Franchisee must comply with our requirements regarding discussing, advertising or disseminating any information, or otherwise having a presence on a Website, regarding the Business. If we approve a separate Website (which we are not obligated to do), then each of the following provisions will apply: (i) Franchisee may neither establish nor use any Website without our prior written approval;(ii) before establishing any Website, Franchisee must submit to us, for our prior written approval, a sample of the proposed Website, including its domain name, format, visible content (including, without limitation, proposed screen shots), and non-visible content (including meta-tags), in the form and manner we may require; and all such work must be performed by us, our affiliates or approved vendors; (iii) Franchisee must not use or modify a Website without our prior written approval; (iv) Franchisee must comply with the standards and specifications for Websites that we may periodically prescribe in the Operations Manual or otherwise in writing; and (v) if we require, Franchisee must establish hyperlinks to our Website and other Websites; and (vi) Neither Franchisee nor any of its employees shall post any information regarding us, our members, managers, officers, or employees, or the System, on any Website or any internet site, without our prior written approval, nor any disparaging statement either during or after termination or expiration of the Agreement. Further Franchisee shall monitor its employees to prevent them from making any such postings. We retain the right to pre-approve Franchisee's use of linking and framing between the Franchisee's website and all other Websites. The Franchisee shall within five (5) days, dismantle any blogs, frames and links between the Franchisee's web pages and any other Websites and cause any advertisements to be removed, if and as requested by us.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 53)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to Burros Fries's 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document, Burros Fries retains significant control over a franchisee's website and online presence. A franchisee may have a Burros & Fries page within the corporate website, but Burros Fries, its affiliates, or approved vendors must perform all maintenance, changes, edits, or updates. The franchisee is responsible for the costs of these changes upon written approval from Burros Fries.
Franchisees need prior written approval from Burros Fries to establish or use any website or conduct any online promotion. If approval is granted, the franchisee must adhere to Burros Fries's requirements for discussing, advertising, or disseminating information about the business online. Burros Fries owns all copyright and intellectual property rights to the franchisee's web page and the contents of the corporate website.
Burros Fries also retains the right to pre-approve a franchisee's use of linking and framing between the franchisee's website and other websites. If requested by Burros Fries, the franchisee must dismantle any blogs, frames, and links between their web pages and other websites within five days and remove any advertisements. This indicates that Burros Fries maintains a high level of control over the brand's online representation and marketing efforts, and franchisees must adhere to these guidelines.