On June 29th, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released updated rules to combat deceptive advertisements and endorsements. Along with new endorsement guidelines and answers to FAQs, these new rules mark a potential new era of FTC enforcement for advertisers who participate in online marketing. There have been huge shifts in the social media advertising landscape...… Continue Reading
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. On November 17, the FCC’s Second Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Second NPRM”) on foreign government sponsored programming was published in... Continue Reading…
On March 2, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“VCDPA”) into law, making Virginia only the second state to enact such comprehensive data protection legislation (after California). The law itself becomes effective on January 1, 2023 and will be codified at Virginia Code §59.1-571. The VCDPA applies to all...… Continue Reading
My law firm partner, Jonathan Cohen, has been closely monitoring the developments in the regulation of social media and other big tech platforms by the current administration. He offers these thoughts on likely areas of legislative and regulatory action in this area in the coming year. Many nights, the last thing I do before falling... Continue Reading…
Next week, I will be discussing regulatory issues for media companies with Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter (who covers legal issues on their must-read THR, Esq site) in a “Candid Conversation” hosted by Matrix Solutions (more information here, including a registration link). The sponsor of this conversation consults on media advertising matters, so the... Continue Reading…
In recent months, we have seen concerted attempts to reign in digital and social media from all along the political spectrum – from Washington, in the states and even internationally. We thought that we would look at some of those efforts and their motivations today. We will look at many of these issues in more... Continue Reading…
Rights of publicity and privacy can present issues for podcasters and other media companies who feature people in their productions. Almost two years ago, we wrote about the lawsuit brought by the surviving family members of the character who was central to the S-Town podcast. The podcast focused much of its attention on the life... Continue Reading…
When is your website or app covered by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and the FTC’s COPPA Rule? Although there are gray areas under COPPA, one clear way to fall under this law is to know that you’re collecting information from children under the age of 13 online. That’s part of what landed...… Continue Reading
In recent weeks, I’ve written about my presentation at the Podcast Movement Convention on legal issues for broadcasters who are thinking about podcasting, and followed up with an article warning any company with employees or contractors creating podcasts or other digital media projects to be sure to clarify who owns the content that is created....… Continue Reading