Legal and Government Affairs Community

The Legal and Government Affairs Community lets you interact with other PMA members with similar interests. To join the Legal and Government Affairs Community, click here.

Webinars

View upcoming webinars.

Past Webinars

Online Use Of Trademarks As Keywords And In Comparative Advertising
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Click toview the pdf and wmv files. (members only)

Packaging and Trade Dress as a Means of Controlling Grey Market Goods
Tueday, June 14, 2011
Click for the pdf and video (members only)

Hot Topics Concerning Music Licensing For Advertising
The legal issues surrounding music licensing for advertising have changed dramatically with the advent of new media platforms as well as new approaches by advertisers to reach consumers through music.This webinar will address the latest developments and best practices for music licensing for advertising today, including:
Click to view the pdf and the movie [ members only]

Promotion Has a New "Face” -- How Sweepstakes, Contests & Games Are Executed In The World Of Social Networking, Presented by Renée C. Kessinger, Management Supervisor and David Schnitzer
Sr. Account Executive, D. L. Blair, June 3, 2010
View the Powerpoint [members only]

Resources

Now Available -- The PMA International Law Book:  Revised Second Edition

46 Countries-Europe, including Russia plus Brazil, China, India, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Australia and Africa

 Every Chapter-details Discounts, Free Gifts, Premiums, Promotional Contests, Games and Special Sales, Internet Mobile & New Technologies

 Intended for Marketers, Industry Members & Attorneys and Academics

Published in association with Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance (GALA)
BUY NOW

The best and only encyclopedic compilation of laws affecting sweepstakes, contests, and the many other aspects of promotion available today, including internet and wireless technologies. This high-quality two volume 2200 page case bound set is the perfect fit for your business bookshelf or law library. Indispensable! 

Buy Now!

White Papers -
[upcoming]

Legal Bulletins  & PMA Legal Watch- [members only]

PMA Legal Watch
PMA Legal Watch - Vol 34, Issue 2

FTC Commissioners Uphold Trial Judge Decision that POM Wonderful, LLC and Others Deceptively Advertised Pomegranate Products by Making Unsupported Health Claims
The Federal Trade Commission upheld an Administrative Law Judge's decision that the marketers of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice and POMx supplements deceptively advertised their products and did not have adequate support for claims that the products could treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction, and that they were clinically proven to work.
Read the complete issue - Members Only.

Back issues of the Law Bulletin and PMA Legal Watch

Legal Updates
PMA COMMENTS TO THE FTC ON THE COPPA ACT
PMA has just submitted comments to the FTC in response to its proposed revision of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA” or the "Act”). These comments, in addition to PMA's previous filing Dec 23, 2011 ask the FTC to revise how it proposes to define and treat "operators” and "website or online service directed to children”, Retain the E-Mail Plus standard and the one-time use exceptions for prize fulfillment for promotions and for send-to-friend e-card promotions
• permit mixed audience sites to age screen users and apply theCOPPA-mandated protections only to those who self-identify as children under 13, as opposed to all users of the site.
• modify its proposal to treat persistent identifiers used torecognize a user over time or across sites as personal information,
• better clarify that the "support for internal operations” exceptionexplicitly excludes from coverage the use of persistent identifiers for internal activities,
• expand the types of activities to be included in the "support forinternal operations” exception, and
• modify its proposal to treat user names and screen names as personalinformation only if that identifier is associated with functionality that permits the person to be contacted online. And make certain additional revisions.
Click here to download the filing. (PDF)

PMA Helps Protect Brands
PMA Supports Industry in Re-Crafting Pennsylvania Cyber Café Bill
PMA continues to support the industry in helping to redraft legislation aimed at cyber café sweepstakes parlors, which masquerade as legitimate sweepstakes operations. The latest example is PA HB 1893, recently signed into law, which was amended on the Senate floor and in conference to change the critical definition of "Simulated Gambling Program” to apply to a method used by a person "interacting with an electronic video monitor in a business establishment…”
For further details, please contact Ed Kabak at ekabak (at)pmalink.org or at 212-340-0083


PMA again helped protect the industry by providing the State of New Hampshire with revised wording on NH Bill NB 1260 relating to outlawing gaming in cybercafes.
The revised language was significant in protecting legitimate brand promotions from the reach of the statute, which is aimed at cybercafes masquerading as sweepstakes and games. The bill passed the House and Senate in New Hampshire this Wednesday, June 6, 2012.  The key provision limits the statute's reach to those sweepstakes "an entrant can enter,play or otherwise interact with using a gambling machine furnished by the sweepstakes operator or an affiliate or person under contract with the operator ,in an establishment controlled by, affiliated with or contracting with the operator."

Florida Seeks to follow North Carolina's Lead in Banning
Electronic Sweepstakes Machines.

PMA files comments in response to the FCC's Notice of Inquiry "Empowering Parents and Protecting Children in an Evolving Media Landscape” Read more...

Committee -
Co-Chair

Bonnie Carlson	President	PMA
Ed Kabak, Esq.	Chief Legal Officer	PMA
Barry Benjamin, Esq.	Partner	Kilpatrick Stockton, LLP
Brian Heidelberger , Esq.	Partner	Winston & Strawn LLP
Carol Brani , Esq.	Attorney	Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC
Ed Chansky, Esq.	Of Counsel	Greenberg Traurig LLP
Jeffrey Greenbaum , Esq.	Partner	Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC
Kenneth R. Florin , Esq.	Partner	Loeb & Loeb LLP
Marc Roth , Esq.	VP, Chief Mktg & Compliance Counsel	Time Inc.
Jamie Rubin, Esq.	Partner	Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon LLP
Mary Kay Andersen	Promotions Manager	Microsoft Corporation
Melissa Landau Steinman , Esq.	Partner	Venable LLP
Nancy Felsten , Esq.	Partner	Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Sandy Reichard	President	D.L. Blair, Inc.
Linda Milfred, Esq.	Senior Counsel, Mkt	Coca-Cola USA
Al Wester	Sr. VP, General Mgr	Ventura Associates, Inc.
Ron Urbach, Esq.	Partner	Cohen Silverman Rowan LLP
Sarah La Voi , Esq.	Corp Counsel, Mktg-Intellectual Property	McDonald's Corporation
Scott Schleifstein , Esq.	Partner	Cohen Silverman Rowan LLP

If you want to get involved with the Center of Excellence call please contact Ed Kabak at the PMA, ekabak@pmalink.org