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cover art for Trailer: Ad Law Tool Kit Show - Season 2

Ad Law Tool Kit Show

Trailer: Ad Law Tool Kit Show - Season 2

Season 2, Ep. 0

If your organization is counting on you to identify potentially problematic advertising and marketing practices, or avoid them altogether, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome to Season Two of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show. Join partners Len Gordon and Shahin Rothermel of our award-winning Advertising and Marketing Law Team as they examine the increasingly complex regulatory landscape. Each week, they’ll dive into a new issue—from made in USA claims to marketing to children—and help build your advertising law tool kit. 

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  • 1. Negative Option and Continuity Marketing: Part II

    19:30||Season 2, Ep. 1
    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. Our episode on this topic was the most popular from Season One, so we’re back with an update. Host Len Gordon and his guests, Venable partners Shahin Rothermel and Ari Rothman, discuss the keys to success in avoiding investigations and liability.
  • 12. Telemarketing and Texting

    31:00||Season 1, Ep. 12
    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. Host Shahin Rothermel and Venable partner Ari Rothman talk about how litigation often concerns consent for autodialed calls and texts. State laws may broaden rules, causing uncertainty regarding reassigned numbers. 
  • 11. State Attorney General Investigations

    32:43||Season 1, Ep. 11
    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. Host Len Gordon and his guest, former Venable partner Alex Megaris, go over 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.
  • 10. Website Accessibility

    32:51||Season 1, Ep. 10
    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. Host Shahin Rothermel and her guests, Karel Mazanec and Nick Reiter, discuss 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? 
  • 9. Copyright Counseling and Protection

    22:29||Season 1, Ep. 9
    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. Host Len Gordon and Venable partner Justin Pierce talk 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.
  • 8. Social Media, Influencers, and Endorsements

    26:58||Season 1, Ep. 8
    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. Host Shahin Rothermel and her guest, Venable partner Melissa Steinman, 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.
  • 7. Payment Processing

    28:25||Season 1, Ep. 7
    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. Given the complex payments ecosystem involving various stakeholders, host Len Gordon and his guests, Venable partners Ellen Berge and Andrew Bigart, walk through the importance for merchants to understand the intricacies of compliance, risk management, security, and fraud prevention.
  • 6. Mitigating Class Action Exposure

    25:06||Season 1, Ep. 6
    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. Host Shahin Rothermel and guest Venable partner Dan Silverman talk 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.