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The first episode of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show, Season 2,is now available. Listen to “Negative Option Marketing: Part 2” here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.

Negative option marketing can include pre-notification negative option plans, continuity programs, automatic renewals, and free-to-pay conversions. This marketing strategy continues to invite scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), state attorneys general, and class action plaintiffs.

In this episode, I talk to my co-host on this podcast, Shahin Rothermel, and
Venable partner Ari Rothman about the keys to success in avoiding investigations and liability.Continue Reading Listen to Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show Podcast– “Negative Option Marketing: Part 2”

We are excited to announce Season 2 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show, the podcast that helps you and your organization identify and avoid potentially problematic advertising practices.

As they did in Season 1, Shahin O. Rothermel and Leonard L. Gordon will interview their Venable colleagues and examine the increasingly complex regulatory landscape that governs the promotion of goods and services—from Made in USA claims to marketing to children.

Each week, the podcast brings the firm’s popular Advertising Law Tool Kitto life through the lens of current events. Listen to the trailer here. Episode 1, “Negative Option and Continuity Marketing: Part II,” will be available on Tuesday, October 1. In the first episode of the season, Len talks to Shahin and Venable partner Ari Rothman. Join us over the coming weeks to hear:Continue Reading Listen to Season 2 of the Ad Law Tool Kit Show

Episode 12 of the Ad Law Tool Kit Show, “Telemarketing and Texting,” is now available. Listen here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.

Telephone and text marketing is ubiquitous these days. But those tools also pose private litigation risks and regulatory hurdles that marketers should be aware of at the outset of any campaign. They involve legal and regulatory complexities, including do-not-call laws enforced by the FTC, FCC, and states.Continue Reading Listen to Episode 12 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show – “Telemarketing and Texting”

Episode 11 of the Ad Law Tool Kit Show, “State Attorney General Investigations,” is now available. Listen here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.

State attorneys general (AGs) are the chief legal officers of their states, and their areas of concern are vast. Aggressive enforcement against telemarking, debt relief, privacy violations, and charity fraud can generate goodwill with an AG’s state residents. Compliance with laws, prompt complaint resolution, and proactive engagement with AGs are crucial.

In this episode, I talk to former Venable partner Alex Megaris about how businesses facing AG inquiries should retain documents, negotiate confidentiality agreements, and focus efforts on smaller AG committees in multi-state actions to manage these probes effectively.Continue Reading Listen to Episode 11 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show – “State Attorney General Investigations”

Episode 10 of the Ad Law Tool Kit Show, “Website Accessibility,” is now available. Listen here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.

Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits disability discrimination in public accommodations. But whether it applies to websites differs by location. California exempts online-only businesses, for example, but elsewhere, offering online goods or services can mandate compliance.

In this episode, I talk to Venable attorneys Karel Mazanec and Nick Reiter about recent court decisions that provide defenses against generic lawsuits, stressing specific injury claims. The explosion of online commerce has forced the question: How does Title III apply to websites?Continue Reading Listen to Episode 10 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show—”Website Accessibility”

Episode 9 of the Ad Law Tool Kit Show, “Copyright Counseling and Protection,” is now available. Listen here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.

Maintaining a robust copyright portfolio is crucial for brand owners. Copyright is a universe almost as big as Marvel’s, covering materials from ad copy to music and social media posts.

In this episode, I talk to Venable partner Justin Pierce about how it’s vital to secure ownership rights through agreements, clear third-party content, register copyrights, and have work-for-hire contracts. Staying updated on copyright trends and checking insurance coverage are essential for comprehensive copyright protection.Continue Reading Listen to Episode 9 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show—”Copyright Counseling and Protection”

Episode 8 of the Ad Law Tool Kit Show, “Social Media, Influencers, and Endorsements,” is now available. Listen here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.

Advertisers increasingly view social media as an opportunity to have influencers speak positively about their products and services. But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made it clear that rules regarding disclosure of material connections also apply in the social media context.

In this episode, Venable partner Melissa Steinman and I go over guidelines that include straightforward declarations like “X Company gave me a free product” or hashtags like #ad, emphasizing upfront, noticeable disclosures. Specific rules apply for different content formats, urging companies to monitor and educate employees and third-party implementers to prevent regulatory issues.Continue Reading Listen to Episode 8 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show—”Social Media, Influencers, and Endorsements”

Episode 7 of the Ad Law Tool Kit Show, “Payment Processing,” is now available. Listen here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.

For retailers, a key, back-end function you can’t do without is a solid merchant processing relationship to acceptance of payments. Robust merchant processing includes credit/debit card, ACH networks, and auxiliary services like analytics, dispute resolution, and security tools.

In this episode, I talk to Venable partners Ellen Berge and Andrew Bigart, who discuss the importance for merchants to understand the intricacies of compliance, risk management, security, and fraud prevention.Continue Reading Listen to Episode 7 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show – “Payment Processing”

Episode 6 of the Ad Law Tool Kit Show, “Mitigating Class Action Exposure,” is now available. Listen here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.

When it comes to mitigating class action lawsuits, the best offense is a good defense. There are plenty of steps companies can take to reduce their exposure to class action litigation.

In this episode, I talk to Venable partner Dan Silverman about ways for organizations to minimize class action lawsuit risks by proactively defending against potential litigation. These include conducting thorough advertising reviews, monitoring competitors’ practices, adhering to regulatory standards, and focusing on areas susceptible to litigation, such as consumer interactions, billing, data breaches, and marketing claims.Continue Reading Listen to Episode 6 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show – “Mitigating Class Action Exposure”

Episode 5 of the Ad Law Tool Kit Show, “Surviving an FTC Investigation,” is now available. Listen here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating your advertising or marketing practice—not something you ever want to hear. But if your organization has received a civil investigative demand (CID), what’s next?

In this episode, Venable partner Roger Colaizzi and our former partner Alex Megaris discuss how adopting a strategic approach is key, as is understanding the FTC staff’s pivotal role in case resolution.Continue Reading Listen to Episode 5 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show – “Surviving an FTC Investigation”