The Supreme Court recently plucked public access television out of your neighbor’s basement and clarified the state-action doctrine in Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck. The result has made it all the more important for content creators to understand the types of entities hosting their content. So let’s drop the blue screen and roll cameras because … Continue Reading
You want to start taking supplements, so you turn to a guide containing consumer reviews. Is the guide just a collection of advertisements? Last month, the Southern District of California again confronted this question, and also took into consideration whether the reviews should be afforded First Amendment protection. The court reiterated its prior finding that … Continue Reading
Whether merchants can charge consumers who pay with a credit card more and how that increase in price is described has been the subject of extensive litigation. According to a divided New York Court of Appeals, New York’s anti-surcharge law, which banned merchants from imposing a surcharge on credit customers, does not actually prohibit a … Continue Reading
San Francisco found itself in a sticky situation after the Ninth Circuit struck down a city ordinance that would have required soda companies and other makers of sugar-sweetened beverages to place the following warning on their ads: WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay. This is a message from … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on June 19, 2017 that the Lanham Act’s disparagement clause prohibiting federal registration of “disparaging” trademarks unconstitutionally limits free speech in a case involving a band named “The Slants.” The near-term effect on trademark applicants, however, is in question due to other viewpoint based prohibitions that were not ruled … Continue Reading
On March 29, 2017 the Supreme Court of the United States held that a New York law prohibiting retailers from disclosing credit card surcharges, while allowing discounts for cash purchases (effectively eliminating the surcharge), regulates speech and not just conduct. The Court, however, passed on evaluating whether the statute violates the First Amendment. Instead, the … Continue Reading
The long running saga of the FTC versus POM Wonderful took a major turn today as the D.C. Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the FTC’s Order that POM had made deceptive claims about its pomegranate juice products. In 2010, the FTC sued POM alleging it had made false and unsubstantiated claims about the … Continue Reading
Anonymous fake online reviews are back in the news, but this time marketers may not be the only ones who should be wary. As we have written before, astroturf is making a comeback, and not necessarily on the athletic fields. In September 2013, the New York AG agreed to settle with 19 companies engaging in … Continue Reading
No blog can really take itself seriously unless it’s written about Lindsay Lohan. Plus our Marketing Department claims she’ll do wonders for our search rankings. Ms. Lohan, in case some of you have just awoken from a coma, has been in the news a time or two in recent months. As a result, a hip-hop … Continue Reading
On August 24, 2012, the D.C. Circuit struck down regulations promulgated by the FDA under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (the “Act”), which would have required cigarette packages to bear one of nine graphic images depicting the negative health consequences of smoking. Because the D.C. Circuit’s decision appears to be in conflict … Continue Reading
Did you hear the news? The Supreme Court has ruled that lies have First Amendment protection. I’m not just talking about little white lies, or half-truths, or artful omissions – I’m talking about great big whoppers, like claiming at a public meeting that you were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor when you were never … Continue Reading
Healing on the Streets (HOTS) recently went up against the ASA, a British self-regulatory advertising watchdog and lost, in a case that demonstrates the difference having a First Amendment makes. HOTS promoted a leaflet on its website that said: “NEED HEALING? GOD CAN HEAL TODAY! Do you suffer from Back Pain, Arthritis, MS, Addiction … … Continue Reading
