As of June 9, 2026, New York requires certain advertisements that use artificial intelligence-generated human performers to include a disclosure informing consumers that the advertisement contains a synthetic performer.

What Counts as a Synthetic Performer?

Governor Hochul’s office described the measure as the “first-in-the-nation” law aimed at increasing transparency around the use of AI in advertising. The law applies to commercial advertisements that depict a “synthetic performer,” defined as a digitally created, reproduced, or modified asset generated through artificial intelligence or other software that creates the impression of a human performer, but is not recognizable as any actual person.

Continue Reading New York AI Advertising Disclosure Requirement Now in Effect

What Is RSL Media and Why Does the Human Consent Standard Matter?

On May 12, 2026, RSL Media launched as a public benefit nonprofit co-founded by CEO Nikki Hexum, Cate Blanchett, Doug Leeds, and Eckart Walther. Its mission is to make human consent machine-readable and discoverable to AI systems through the Human Consent Standard, which allows any individual to declare whether AI systems may use their creative works, identity, likeness, voice, characters, or marks. Endorsements from several famous actors and organizations, such as a major talent agency and the Music Artists Coalition, highlight this as one of the entertainment industry’s potential technological answers to unauthorized AI exploitation.

RSL Media builds on the Really Simple Licensing (RSL) standard, an open protocol launched in late 2025, enabling machine-readable AI usage terms for website content, now claiming support from over 1,500 publishers, brands, tech companies, and media organizations. While the original RSL addressed content at a specific URL, the Human Consent Standard applies to “the underlying work, identity, character, or mark itself, wherever it appears.”

Continue Reading A New Framework for AI Permissions in Entertainment: RSL Media’s Human Consent Standard

Given the changes in the advertising world concerning media buying over the past decade, it is somewhat surprising to see that in a recent survey, nearly 40% of client-side marketers said they either have not updated their media buying agency contracts to address principal media, or do not know whether they did.

After its extensive 2016 report on media transparency, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), a trade group made up primarily of brand advertisers, has been following up with sample contract templates, reports, surveys, and other useful tools to assist with the contracting process between media buying agencies and brand clients. Recently, the ANA released the results of a new survey it conducted about media transparency, which reflects both progress and continuing concern.

Continue Reading Principal Media and Media Agency Contracts: Lessons From the Recent ANA Survey

We’ve all had that moment when we see an ad on social media for a product we were just talking to a friend about. Cox Media Group wanted its customers to believe it was behind this eerily too common phenomenon, but the FTC said otherwise.

On May 21, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced proposed settlements with three companies—CMG Media Corporation, MindSift LLC, and 1010 Digital Works LLC—to resolve charges that they deceived small business customers by selling an advertising service called “Active Listening.”

Continue Reading FTC Settlement Highlights Risks of Deceptive AI Marketing Claims

Join us as we offer a sneak peek into select chapters from the newly released 14th edition of Venable’s Advertising Law Tool Kit, which helps marketing teams navigate their organization’s legal risk. Want more? Click here to download the entire Tool Kit.

Telemarketing and Texting

Telephone and text message marketing poses private litigation risks and regulatory hurdles that should be considered before any campaign. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and states enforce do-not-call (DNC) laws and impose multiple other requirements regarding calling manner, disclosures, consent, opt-out, calling hour limits, caller identification, and telemarketer registration. Calls and texts made to cell phones through the use of certain types of dialing technology (including autodialers) and prerecorded messages (so-called robocalls) require particular attention, as much of the enforcement and litigation in this area involves texting and robocalling.

Continue Reading Inside the Ad Law Tool Kit: Telemarketing and Texting

Last month, a jury found mobile gaming company Papaya Gaming Ltd. liable for false advertising for $420 million in actual damages under the federal Lanham Act and New York State law. Papaya competitor Skillz Platform Inc. had alleged that Papaya conducted a multi-year campaign of fraud and false advertising that materially damaged Skillz and the skill-based gaming industry. 

The case may appear, on first blush, to be about the use of bots to play, and therefore whether the games at issue were genuine skill contests, or rather just games of chance. However, the claims in the case were actually premised on more traditional, run-of-the-mill false advertising questions. 

Continue Reading Skill-Based Gaming Companies Face Growing False Advertising Scrutiny

Advertising agency agreements require careful balancing of legal risk, commercial realities, and long-term working relationships. In a recent webinar, Venable partner Barry M. Benjamin discussed how brands and agencies can structure agreements that support collaboration while addressing the unique issues that arise in creative services, media buying, influencer marketing, and promotions administration.

Whether you are negotiating an agency agreement for creative services, media buying, influencer marketing, or promotions administration, each area has particular concerns. Because difficult initial contract negotiations may poison the working relationship between the agency and the company going forward, it makes sense for both sides to conclude negotiations with a mutually acceptable agreement.

Continue Reading Event in Review | Ad Agency Contracts: Key Negotiating Points, Leverage, and Getting to Win-Win

Continuing with its aggressive enforcement of negative option marketing, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a $35 million settlement with online digital photo and video platform Shutterstock to resolve allegations that Shutterstock violated Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) in connection with its subscription services. The FTC alleged that Shutterstock failed to disclose material terms before billing, charged consumers for products without their informed consent, and made cancellation difficult.

Shutterstock offers consumers several plans for licensing content on its website, varying in price and in the number of downloads available. The complaint alleges that Shutterstock offered most of its content through online subscriptions since at least 2020.

Continue Reading Shutterstock Settles with FTC for $35 Million for Subscription and Negative Option Marketing Practices

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Illinois attorney general filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois against Premium Home Service (PHS) and its owner. The complaint alleges that the defendants created thousands of online business listings for purported home repair companies and posted fabricated five-star customer reviews associated with those businesses.

On the same day, the Minnesota attorney general filed a parallel action in state court based on similar alleged conduct, underscoring the potential for overlapping federal and state enforcement.

Continue Reading FTC and State AGs Target Reviews and Deceptive Business Listings in Home Services

Join us as we offer a sneak peek into select chapters from the newly released 14th edition of Venable’s Advertising Law Tool Kit, which helps marketing teams navigate their organization’s legal risk. Want more? Click here to download the entire Tool Kit.

Fee Disclosures

When customers check out, they are used to seeing a list of fees accompanying the primary product or service. Businesses often add these fees for a variety of reasons, and they can go by a variety of names: service fees, convenience fees, or processing fees. While these fees can serve legitimate business purposes, the Federal Trade Commission regulates how these fees are presented to customers for specific industries through targeted rules such as Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees and has broad authority to combat unfair and deceptive pricing acts or practices through Section 5 of the FTC Act.

Continue Reading Inside the Ad Law Tool Kit: Fee Disclosures