If you do business in California, cross your t's and dot your lowercase i's (and j's) when handling employees.  California’s Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) allows employees to file lawsuits to recover civil penalties on behalf of themselves, other employees, and the State of California for labor code violations. In a recent PAGA case, an employee brought a suit seeking civil penalties for a California employer’s failure to include the last four digits of its employees’ Social Security numbers on an itemized wage statement, which violates California Labor Code 226(a)(7).

What is a business, and what is a hobby? The answer matters from a tax perspective, and be wary if you breed, show, train, or race horses.  Typically, hobbies are activities that you perform for fun, not profit.  But the failure to turn a profit does not make an activity a hobby, as certainly many businesses (intentionally or not) do not turn a profit.

The Digital Millenium Copyright Act ("DMCA") Safe Harbor is one of the lowest cost and highest benefit risk mitigators available to online businesses.  Taking advantage of the Safe Harbor through the proper registration of an agent, and the posting of a correct policy and process, can block millions of dollars in liability for an approximately $6.00 filing fee. Implemented propertly, the DMCA’s “safe harbor” provides immunity to copyright infringement claims if, among various other requirements, online service providers promptly remove or block access to infringing materials after copyright holders give appropriate notice to a designated agent.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe-harbor protections can insulate your business from liability for online infringement by those who post on your website or platforms if you take the correct steps under the DMCA, and register a copyright agent with the DMCA.  Take note- if you previously registered your copyright agent with the DMCA in paper, your time to register electronically with the U.S. Copyright Office has ended and you may lose your DMCA protections if you do not take certain steps.