Analysis:
Thinking about Class Actions? Plaintiffs Are
Over the past decade, an avalanche of advertising-related class action lawsuits has crushed American businesses. This spike in class actions, write Venable partners Jeffrey D. Knowles, Roger A. Colaizzi, and Gregory J. Sater in the September edition of Electronic Retailer magazine, is due to a confluence of factors, including the economic downturn, a glut of attorneys, increased regulatory enforcement, and a target-rich marketplace.
In the article, they outline several best practices companies can adopt to mitigate class action risk and discuss strategies for dealing with class action lawsuits when they occur.
Read the article to learn what every marketer should know about class actions.
FCC's Updated Contest Rules Cut the Fast Talk
The days of on-air fast-talking contest announcements are coming to an end, write Venable attorneys Melissa Landau Steinman and Annie H. Lee in a recent post to Venable's advertising law blog. This is happening because the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week revised its "Contest Rules" to allow broadcasters to disclose contest rules on an Internet website, as opposed to reading them [at superhuman speed] over the air.
Read the blog post to learn what you need to know about the FCC's new Contest Rules.
Read the full text of the revised rules here.
EMV Deployment May Goose CNP Fraud
Direct response marketers and other Card Not Present (CNP) merchants have, in general, paid little attention to the October 1, 2015 deployment of EMV technology (named after Europay, MasterCard and Visa, the three companies that created it) in the U.S. That is likely because the shift in liability for data breaches and the use of stolen or counterfeit cards that comes with the EMV deployment does not apply to CNP transactions. While that sounds like one less thing for CNP merchants to worry about, write Venable partners Jeffrey D. Knowles and Ellen T. Berge in the September edition of Response Magazine, those merchants have reason to be concerned about the EMV deployment and the "card-present" fraud it will displace.
Read the Response Magazine article to learn why EMV could be bad news for CNP merchants, and how they can mitigate the associated risks.
Upcoming Events:
NAD/CARU
September 28-30 | New York, NY
Legal trends, FTC enforcement priorities, and breaking developments in advertising law will be topics of discussion at this year's annual National Advertising Division (NAD) and Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) conferences. Learn how to enhance your use of the advertising industry's self-regulatory forum and hear from Venable's Melissa Landau Steinman, who will be addressing the CARU conference on "The Business Behind In-App Purchases, Push Notifications and Interest-Based Advertising."
Click here to learn more about NAD/CARU and to register to attend.
ERA D2C
October 6-8 | Las Vegas, NV
ERA is celebrating 25 years of bringing together the top direct-response marketers and innovators in the industry. Venable's Po Yi will be featured on the panel "Using Digital to Make the Cash Register Ring" to discuss best practices for brand marketers who use mobile and digital media to market to consumers. On Thursday morning, join Venable's Jeffrey D. Knowles, Leonard L. Gordon, Amy Ralph Mudge, and Gregory J. Sater for a roundtable breakfast discussion of the regulatory and legal risks facing direct-response marketers today. Be sure to swing by Venable's booth, #815, to meet our team.
SupplySide West
October 7-8 | Las Vegas, NV
Venable will partner with KGK Synergize as co-sponsors at this year's SupplySide West. This conference focuses on the exploration, discovery, innovation, and marketing strategy around the development of finished consumer goods in the animal nutrition, beverage, cosmetics, dietary supplements, sports nutrition, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Venable's Andrew Pratt and Justin Pierce will host a VendorBrief on "Brand Integrity for Food & Ingredient Suppliers: Best Practices in Enforcement & Licensing." Be sure to visit us at booth #1845 for more information and to meet our team.