ReactS : Advertising Lawyers & Attorneys : Reed Smith Law Firm : Marketing Regulations, Product Placement

At last, common sense has triumphed with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) issuing a press release confirming that the Data Protection Act 1998 does not prevent family and friends from taking photographs at school concerts or plays this Christmas, but that doesn't mean little Johnny can appear in the next sweetie ad!

The ICO emphasised that photographs simply taken for the family album were exempt from data protection laws. The revised guidance for schools and local authorities gives advice on taking photographs in educational institutions, and explains that the Act is unlikely to apply in most situations where photographs are taken by parents in schools. What advertisers need to realise is that while the UK does not have image rights as such, therefore allowing the use of people's image in advertising without consent in certain circumstances, the use of children's images in a commercial context is extremely risky and unwise. This advice may seem like common sense too but image rights and 'rights to publicity' are a complex legal area.

For information on the use of celebrities and ordinary folk as well, please see our Guide.

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Does the  Bribery Act, which comes into force next April 2011, mean the end of corporate hospitality? If so it will certainly hit the media industries harder than most, and yet the ad world has yet to really get to grips with the implications of this new legislation.

It is not that the industry is corrupt or based on back handers but simply that the media world flourishes in environments of congeniality and entertainment. However it seems the days when Lord Bell, (the famous MD of Saatchi and Saatchi in the 1970s), boasted of spending hundreds on caviar for his clients at one lunch alone, may be unwise in the future. While the Act is not intended to stop a free lunch the penalties for infringing one of the four offences are severe, and likely to focus the minds of any board of directors.  There  will be the possibility of a maximum jail term for bribery by an individual of 10 years and a company convicted of failing to prevent bribery could receive an unlimited fine.

Draft guidance published by the Ministry of Justice in September has only made matters worse. The Guide suggests  that all businesses will have to keep records of the hospitality staff receive and hand out.

The Telegraph described the proposals as an 'administrative nightmare'. While intended to focus on bribes to foreign officials the Act also applies to all British businesses, small or large. There is enormous criticism of the Guidance and calls for clarifications have been made prior to the Act coming into force in April.

Reed Smith support PACT (the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) in its call for the MoJ to clarify when a payment may be in the public interest, for example when paying a bribe in a foreign country to gain access to areas needed to carry out investigative journalism. PACT even point out that in some circumstances lives depend on bribes to get hournalists and film makers out of difficult and frequently dangerous situations. However other times the reality is more mundane but equally valid, filming in some jurisdictions will just not happen unless the 'local wheels of business' are oiled sufficiently. Try shooting an ad in some parts of India for example.

So what does the Act cover?
 

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Google’s new trademark policy comes into play from the 14th September 2010 in UK, Ireland and Canada, and effectively most of Europe. The change has been received with differing views. One view is that it will ultimately result in a better surfing experience for users; the other is that it is nothing other than a ruse for Google to hike up prices and cut costs. Whatever your view brands need to be aware of what, if any, rights they have left to protect their brands on line in sponsored search results on Google.

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