We are all familiar with celebrities and social media stars using their social media accounts to promote brands and products. For some, it is their main source of income and they can make millions in endorsement and sponsorship deals. Major TV and sports icons can command hundreds of thousands of pounds per post, which

At the end of March the European Commission issued a “Notice to Stakeholders. Withdrawal of the United Kingdom and EU Rules in the Field of Copyright.”  It is a helpful but notably incomplete summary of the legal repercussions of Brexit on copyright law in the UK and EU.

In what ways is the Notice incomplete?

UK-based media agency, the7stars, recently announced it would adopt the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers’ (ISBA) template agency agreement—an arrangement designed to foster a transparent relationship between advertisers and media buying agencies.

Since K2 Intelligence released its report on the U.S. media buying industry in June—a report which detailed non-transparent business practices employed by media

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that Three’s Muppet-themed ad, featuring a character victoriously punching into the air, which claimed that the mobile company was the ‘undisputed’ market leader in terms of network reliability, can no longer be shown in its current form.

In addition to a complaint made by a member of the

The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has stated in a legal opinion that posting a link to a website that contains “freely accessible” copyright infringing content should not itself amount to copyright infringement. Fore more on this important development, please read the following Reed Smith client alert: https://www.reedsmith.com/Hyperlinking-to-unauthorised-content-does-not-itself-constitute-copyright-infringement-says-Advocate-General-04-25-2016/

Gambling companies Hillside (UK Sports) LP t/a Bet365 (“Bet365“), Coral Interactive (Gibraltar) Ltd (“Coral“) and Petfre (Gibraltar) Ltd (“Totesport”) were recently challenged by the UK advertising regulator, Advertising Standards Authority on using images of Jordan Spieth, US Open champion, on their Twitter feeds to promote betting.

Under the UK non-broadcast advertising industry code (the CAP Code), marketing communications (which include tweets) must be socially responsible; and must not include people aged 25 or under, or someone who appears to be so, if such person plays a “significant role” in promoting gambling and betting. An exception to this rule was introduced in 2013 for instances where an individual under the age of 25 appears in a bet directly or alongside “specific betting selections”. This is allowed so long as the image used shows them “in the context of the bet and not in a gambling context.”Continue Reading Gambling Companies Hit a Triple Bogey

A UK website offering reviews of accounting software that was operated by TheAccountancyPartnership.com Ltd t/a Pandle (“Pandle”) was recently challenged by Crunch Accounting Ltd (“Crunch”) on purported misleading advertising and unfair comparisons with identifiable competitors. Crunch complained to the UK advertising regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (the “ASA”) (see:

On May 1, 2015, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) released a set of amended Sales Promotional Rules contained in Section 8 of the CAP Code.  This follows a public consultation aimed at amending a number of rules to bring them up to date with the current consumer protection landscape.  For a list of key

Last week the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) announced relaxed regulations for advertising e-cigarettes through television broadcasting. From November, advertisers will be able to show their e-cigarette products on television having previously been banned from doing so. The introduction of the new rules has largely been welcomed with many finding previous rules unclear and inconsistent.

The International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) has delivered an open letter to the World Health Organisation (WHO), voluntarily pledging to cease marketing unhealthy food to children by 2016. The IFBA’s members include some of the world’s largest food and drink companies including PepsiCo, Nestle, Kellogg and Unilever.

The restriction is based upon a set