Since 1934, when we structured the deal for the original radio -"soap opera"- the first advertiser-created broadcast program, Davis & Gilbert has been the preeminent law firm for all issues relating to the advertising, marketing and communication industry. We represent more clients in these areas than any other law firm, and no firm has more attorneys dedicated to this work than Davis & Gilbert.
Our attorneys regularly advise on all issues relating to the creation, production, and dissemination of all kinds of advertising, marketing, and promotion material across all media. We have unmatched expertise in addressing issues generated by the influx of interactive technology and consumer-generated content. In this way, we are uniquely able to help clients adapt and succeed in this world of rapid change.
Davis & Gilbert’s Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Practice Group has been recognized by numerous directories and publications that cover the legal industry. The firm was featured in The National Law Journal’s Midsize Hot List two years in a row (2012 and 2013), each time being recognized for our prominent position in the field of advertising and marketing communications. Our practice has achieved a first-tier ranking in “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News & World Report – Best Lawyers in the categories “National – Advertising Law” and “New York – Advertising Law” for the past three years. We have been top-tier ranked by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, the leading research publication in the legal industry, in the nationwide category Advertising: Transactional & Regulatory for seven consecutive years. The 2012 edition applauds the firm’s “top-drawer counsel on the gamut of advertising law” and highlights the high caliber of the group’s attorneys, describing them as “extremely responsive, thoughtful and timely.” The group also earned a ranking in the Chambers categories “client service” and “commercial awareness” for Advertising. In addition, The Legal 500: United States has ranked Davis & Gilbert in the top tier for Media, Technology and Telecoms: Marketing and Advertising for six consecutive years. The 2012 edition of the guide distinguished Davis & Gilbert as “the best firm in the advertising agency world” and highlighted its leading reputation as a “trusted advisor” to global brands, leading advertising agencies and industry trade associations and self-regulatory bodies.
OUR CLIENTS
Davis & Gilbert’s clients are among the most visible in all media; our advertising and marketing communication agency clients range in size from small start-ups and mid-size creative shops to regional and national firms, as well as diversified global holding companies and their operating companies. Our advertiser and marketer clients reflect some of the most well-known brand names in the United States and around the world.
While our clients sell diverse products and services, their common element is that they all need to market, promote, advertise and sell. Our attorneys have unique knowledge and perspective that distinctly benefits in-house counsel seeking to keep their businesses at the leading edge of competition.
UNEQUALED INDUSTRY EXPERTISE
We know everything there is to know about the business of advertising and marketing communications because we are involved in every phase of our clients’ work. From concept to distribution, we work with clients on all contractual, regulatory, intellectual property, media and business law issues that relate to advertising, media, promotion and marketing.
Whether advising on traditional or digital media or marketing strategies, our advertising and marketing attorneys have particular expertise in the business needs and regulatory concerns of companies in all key industry segments, including wireless communications, consumer electronics, food, health, cosmetic, fitness, automotive, retail and alcoholic beverages. We are involved in every aspect – from intellectual property protection to regulatory issues, including governmental, legislative and self-regulatory concerns – for all critical and sensitive areas of law, such as marketing to children, health claims, negative-option marketing, branded content, viral marketing, and consumer-created content. In advising numerous trade associations, speaking before government groups and advocating for our clients, we have established countless essential regulatory principles that apply to these areas. We continually define the critical issues of tomorrow and advise clients on how to best prepare for these eventualities.
A core area of our practice focuses on all kinds of promotional activities, including sweepstakes, sponsorships, tie-ins and cutting-edge marketing techniques such as word-of-mouth, viral, and guerilla. The use of wireless devices, particularly cell phones, to engage consumers is one of the most exciting growth areas in our marketing practice. Through our longstanding representation of a leading wireless communications carrier, we are especially well-suited to analyze and structure the most innovative promotional programs distributed by way of wireless devices.
Content generation has moved from the traditional creators of films, television programs, songs, books and plays, to the advertisers, marketers and agencies that create, fund, or support these works. We work with clients in all these areas to structure and facilitate the related arrangements. With the rise of digital media and the adoption of technology that allows for the dissemination of consumer generated content, we counsel clients on how to best use and control such content while avoiding unnecessary risk.
As the leader in advertising, marketing and promotions law, our practice continues to expand with each technological innovation. Davis & Gilbert has been with the industry since inception and we are uniquely positioned to lead the way for future developments as they evolve.
INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION AFFILIATIONS AND/OR REPRESENTATIONS
Davis & Gilbert attorneys frequently are called upon by the following professional groups for guidance on issues, forms and procedures:
- American Association of Advertising Agencies
- American Advertising Federation
- American Marketing Association
- Association of National Advertisers
- Brand Activation Association (Formerly Promotion Marketing Association)
- Council of Public Relations Firms
- Counselor's Academy of the Public Relations Society of America
- Direct Marketing Association
- Mobile Marketing Association
REPRESENTATION OF CLIENTS BEFORE THESE SELF-REGULATORY/INDUSTRY GOVERNING BODIES:
We have successfully brought or defended advertising challenges before all of the following organizations, establishing key principles for substantiation, defining national vs. local advertisers, and establishing critical demonstration principles for toy advertisers:
- National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD)
- Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU)
- National Advertising Review Board (NARB)
- All major broadcast and cable networks and stations standards and practices groups, including ABC, NBC, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, ESPN, WB
REPRESENTATIVE ISSUES ADDRESSED FOR OUR CLIENTS INCLUDE:
Advertising- Agreements and forms including:
- Agency/client agreements
- Sponsorship agreements
- Event marketing agreements
- Commercial production agreements
- License agreements for music and other rights
- Talent (over scale and other) agreements with performers, writers and musicians
- Media purchase and insertion orders
- Web development, digital media, interactive and technology agreements
- Art buying and licensing with artists, photographers, illustrators, designers and animators
- Privacy policies
- Advice and guidance from concept through production and distribution
- Copy review and clearance
- Demonstrations, simulations, testimonials and endorsements
- Disclosure requirements in any and all media, including online, print, broadcast and outdoor
- Privacy/publicity challenges and analyses
- Intellectual property – copyright, trademark and patent
- Product claim support and substantiation
- Comparative claims review
- Comparative advertising challenges, including Lanham Act and unfair competition claims
- Compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations
- Advertising and marketing compliance audits
- Formulation of internal compliance policies and procedures
- Internal client training seminars and workshops on legal clearance procedures
- Do-not-call/do-not-mail
- Recorded telephone conversations
- Internet marketing and unsolicited commercial e-mail
- Refer-a-friend strategies
- Viral and word-of-mouth marketing strategies
- Guerilla marketing
- Price range advertising
- Prize promotion fulfillment
- Mail/Telephone Order Rule compliance
- Discount buying club compliance
- Gift certificates and stored-value cards, including escheat laws
- Coupons and continuity programs
- Direct marketing and membership club marketing practices
- Loyalty programs
- Co-branding project agreements
- Joint marketing campaigns and the licensing of third-party rights
- Joint promotional programs among businesses
- Sampling programs
- Discount offers, refunds, rebates, and installment sales
- Compliance with service contract and extended warranty laws, including necessary
- Compliance with the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and similar state laws, including drafting and reviewing telemarketing scripts
- Participation in drafting federal, state and local legislation
- Electronic billing, credit and billing practices, including compliance with the Truth in Lending Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act and related state laws and regulations
- Web-based sweepstakes
- Mobile phone promotions
- Multi-player tournaments
- Online auctions
- Retail and business promotions
- Special hazard promotions
- Special events
- Gambling and state lottery analysis
- Game play and skill contests
- Sponsorship and third-party tie-in arrangements, including commercial co-ventures
- Registration and bonding in appropriate jurisdictions
- Structure and content of official rules and/or terms and conditions of promotions
- Artist and concert tours and promotions
- Sports team and sports league marketing
- Sports personality and major marketer arrangements in all sports and industry categories
- Stadium and building naming rights
- Motorsports sponsorships
- Event marketing at all venues
- Establish policies and guidelines for the online publishing industry, including standard terms and conditions, advertising expenditure analysis, measurement and metrics, best practices and online advertising guidelines
- Negotiate hundreds of on-line advertising deals, from sophisticated co-branding and sponsorship agreements, to insertion orders for virtually all types of on-line inventory, including banner impressions, click-through arrangements, keyword purchases, and the creation and acquisition of "rich-media" inventory
- Special expertise in the areas of web and podcasts, satellite radio, handheld game systems, digital downloads, broadband, cell phone ring tones and other wireless devices
- Mobile distribution of music, video content, television, movies and films
- Draft and negotiate contracts and provide advice regarding legal issues from every perspective in the affiliate marketing space
- Regulatory disputes with all federal, state and local agencies
- Represent clients and negotiate resolutions in key disputes before the FTC and the state Attorneys General
- Participation in FTC industry programs, workshops and proceedings across the country
- Monitor and advise on statutes and regulations governing the marketing, advertising, and labeling of foods, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices
- Client representation before the FDA, including defense of clients whose products have been seized for alleged misbranding
- FDA inspections of clients' manufacturing facilities
- Assisting foreign clients with bringing products and services to the U.S. market
- We have handled countless complex celebrity talent and music agreements for the advertising and marketing industries. These include celebrities from every area of sports, film, television, theater, and music. Our representation includes more than simply drafting agreements. We are able to advise on the applicability and details of any union guild agreement, and coordinate with the unions thereafter if issues arise. We oftentimes are asked to find the talent, and negotiate and finalize an array of significant talent transactions, including global deals, multimillion dollar arrangements, and detailed service and relationship contracts. A very small sampling includes the following:
- Goodby, Silverstein & Partners/Hewlett Packard/Vera Wang
- Big & Rich/MS&L/Prilosec OTC
- Mariah Carey/Elizabeth Arden
- Baz Luhrmann/Nicole Kidman/Chanel No. 5
- Beyonce Knowles/Spike DDB/Pepsi
- Samuel L. Jackson/Bartle Bogle Hegarty/Barclays Bank PLC
- Lenny Kravitz/TBWA Chiat/Day/Nissan
- Bootsy Collins/Wieden & Kennedy/Nike
- R. Kelly/DDB/Exxon/Mobil
- Jeff Bridges/DDB Worldwide/Ameritrade
- Lucy Liu/ Wieden & Kennedy/Vodafone
- Kelly Rippa/DDB/Electrolux
- Claire Danes/Ogilvy/Time Warner Cable
- Ricky Gervais/Ogilvy/Time Warner Cable
For additional information on Davis & Gilbert's Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Practice, please contact:
Ronald R. Urbach
212.468.4824
rurbach@dglaw.com
Gerald B. Schwartz
212.468.4814
gschwartz@dglaw.com
OUR CLIENTS
Davis & Gilbert’s clients are among the most visible in all media; our advertising and marketing communication agency clients range in size from small start-ups and mid-size creative shops to regional and national firms, as well as diversified global holding companies and their operating companies. Our advertiser and marketer clients reflect some of the most well-known brand names in the United States and around the world.
While our clients sell diverse products and services, their common element is that they all need to market, promote, advertise and sell. Our attorneys have unique knowledge and perspective that distinctly benefits in-house counsel seeking to keep their businesses at the leading edge of competition.
UNEQUALED INDUSTRY EXPERTISE
We know everything there is to know about the business of advertising and marketing communications because we are involved in every phase of our clients’ work. From concept to distribution, we work with clients on all contractual, regulatory, intellectual property, media and business law issues that relate to advertising, media, promotion and marketing.
Whether advising on traditional or digital media or marketing strategies, our advertising and marketing attorneys have particular expertise in the business needs and regulatory concerns of companies in all key industry segments, including wireless communications, consumer electronics, food, health, cosmetic, fitness, automotive, retail and alcoholic beverages. We are involved in every aspect – from intellectual property protection to regulatory issues, including governmental, legislative and self-regulatory concerns – for all critical and sensitive areas of law, such as marketing to children, health claims, negative-option marketing, branded content, viral marketing, and consumer-created content. In advising numerous trade associations, speaking before government groups and advocating for our clients, we have established countless essential regulatory principles that apply to these areas. We continually define the critical issues of tomorrow and advise clients on how to best prepare for these eventualities.
A core area of our practice focuses on all kinds of promotional activities, including sweepstakes, sponsorships, tie-ins and cutting-edge marketing techniques such as word-of-mouth, viral, and guerilla. The use of wireless devices, particularly cell phones, to engage consumers is one of the most exciting growth areas in our marketing practice. Through our longstanding representation of a leading wireless communications carrier, we are especially well-suited to analyze and structure the most innovative promotional programs distributed by way of wireless devices.
Content generation has moved from the traditional creators of films, television programs, songs, books and plays, to the advertisers, marketers and agencies that create, fund, or support these works. We work with clients in all these areas to structure and facilitate the related arrangements. With the rise of digital media and the adoption of technology that allows for the dissemination of consumer generated content, we counsel clients on how to best use and control such content while avoiding unnecessary risk.
As the leader in advertising, marketing and promotions law, our practice continues to expand with each technological innovation. Davis & Gilbert has been with the industry since inception and we are uniquely positioned to lead the way for future developments as they evolve.
INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION AFFILIATIONS AND/OR REPRESENTATIONS
Davis & Gilbert attorneys frequently are called upon by the following professional groups for guidance on issues, forms and procedures:
- American Association of Advertising Agencies
- American Advertising Federation
- American Marketing Association
- Association of National Advertisers
- Brand Activation Association (Formerly Promotion Marketing Association)
- Council of Public Relations Firms
- Counselor's Academy of the Public Relations Society of America
- Direct Marketing Association
- Mobile Marketing Association
REPRESENTATION OF CLIENTS BEFORE THESE SELF-REGULATORY/INDUSTRY GOVERNING BODIES:
We have successfully brought or defended advertising challenges before all of the following organizations, establishing key principles for substantiation, defining national vs. local advertisers, and establishing critical demonstration principles for toy advertisers:
- National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD)
- Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU)
- National Advertising Review Board (NARB)
- All major broadcast and cable networks and stations standards and practices groups, including ABC, NBC, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, ESPN, WB
REPRESENTATIVE ISSUES ADDRESSED FOR OUR CLIENTS INCLUDE:
Advertising
- Agreements and forms including:
- Agency/client agreements
- Sponsorship agreements
- Event marketing agreements
- Commercial production agreements
- License agreements for music and other rights
- Talent (over scale and other) agreements with performers, writers and musicians
- Media purchase and insertion orders
- Web development, digital media, interactive and technology agreements
- Art buying and licensing with artists, photographers, illustrators, designers and animators
- Privacy policies
- Advice and guidance from concept through production and distribution
- Copy review and clearance
- Demonstrations, simulations, testimonials and endorsements
- Disclosure requirements in any and all media, including online, print, broadcast and outdoor
- Privacy/publicity challenges and analyses
- Intellectual property – copyright, trademark and patent
- Product claim support and substantiation
- Comparative claims review
- Comparative advertising challenges, including Lanham Act and unfair competition claims
- Compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations
- Advertising and marketing compliance audits
- Formulation of internal compliance policies and procedures
- Internal client training seminars and workshops on legal clearance procedures
- Do-not-call/do-not-mail
- Recorded telephone conversations
- Internet marketing and unsolicited commercial e-mail
- Refer-a-friend strategies
- Viral and word-of-mouth marketing strategies
- Guerilla marketing
- Price range advertising
- Prize promotion fulfillment
- Mail/Telephone Order Rule compliance
- Discount buying club compliance
- Gift certificates and stored-value cards, including escheat laws
- Coupons and continuity programs
- Direct marketing and membership club marketing practices
- Loyalty programs
- Co-branding project agreements
- Joint marketing campaigns and the licensing of third-party rights
- Joint promotional programs among businesses
- Sampling programs
- Discount offers, refunds, rebates, and installment sales
- Compliance with service contract and extended warranty laws, including necessary
- Compliance with the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and similar state laws, including drafting and reviewing telemarketing scripts
- Participation in drafting federal, state and local legislation
- Electronic billing, credit and billing practices, including compliance with the Truth in Lending Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act and related state laws and regulations
- Web-based sweepstakes
- Mobile phone promotions
- Multi-player tournaments
- Online auctions
- Retail and business promotions
- Special hazard promotions
- Special events
- Gambling and state lottery analysis
- Game play and skill contests
- Sponsorship and third-party tie-in arrangements, including commercial co-ventures
- Registration and bonding in appropriate jurisdictions
- Structure and content of official rules and/or terms and conditions of promotions
- Artist and concert tours and promotions
- Sports team and sports league marketing
- Sports personality and major marketer arrangements in all sports and industry categories
- Stadium and building naming rights
- Motorsports sponsorships
- Event marketing at all venues
- Establish policies and guidelines for the online publishing industry, including standard terms and conditions, advertising expenditure analysis, measurement and metrics, best practices and online advertising guidelines
- Negotiate hundreds of on-line advertising deals, from sophisticated co-branding and sponsorship agreements, to insertion orders for virtually all types of on-line inventory, including banner impressions, click-through arrangements, keyword purchases, and the creation and acquisition of "rich-media" inventory
- Special expertise in the areas of web and podcasts, satellite radio, handheld game systems, digital downloads, broadband, cell phone ring tones and other wireless devices
- Mobile distribution of music, video content, television, movies and films
- Draft and negotiate contracts and provide advice regarding legal issues from every perspective in the affiliate marketing space
- Regulatory disputes with all federal, state and local agencies
- Represent clients and negotiate resolutions in key disputes before the FTC and the state Attorneys General
- Participation in FTC industry programs, workshops and proceedings across the country
- Monitor and advise on statutes and regulations governing the marketing, advertising, and labeling of foods, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices
- Client representation before the FDA, including defense of clients whose products have been seized for alleged misbranding
- FDA inspections of clients' manufacturing facilities
- Assisting foreign clients with bringing products and services to the U.S. market
- We have handled countless complex celebrity talent and music agreements for the advertising and marketing industries. These include celebrities from every area of sports, film, television, theater, and music. Our representation includes more than simply drafting agreements. We are able to advise on the applicability and details of any union guild agreement, and coordinate with the unions thereafter if issues arise. We oftentimes are asked to find the talent, and negotiate and finalize an array of significant talent transactions, including global deals, multimillion dollar arrangements, and detailed service and relationship contracts. A very small sampling includes the following:
- Goodby, Silverstein & Partners/Hewlett Packard/Vera Wang
- Big & Rich/MS&L/Prilosec OTC
- Mariah Carey/Elizabeth Arden
- Baz Luhrmann/Nicole Kidman/Chanel No. 5
- Beyonce Knowles/Spike DDB/Pepsi
- Samuel L. Jackson/Bartle Bogle Hegarty/Barclays Bank PLC
- Lenny Kravitz/TBWA Chiat/Day/Nissan
- Bootsy Collins/Wieden & Kennedy/Nike
- R. Kelly/DDB/Exxon/Mobil
- Jeff Bridges/DDB Worldwide/Ameritrade
- Lucy Liu/ Wieden & Kennedy/Vodafone
- Kelly Rippa/DDB/Electrolux
- Claire Danes/Ogilvy/Time Warner Cable
- Ricky Gervais/Ogilvy/Time Warner Cable
For additional information on Davis & Gilbert's Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Practice, please contact:
Ronald R. Urbach
212.468.4824
rurbach@dglaw.com
Gerald B. Schwartz
212.468.4814
gschwartz@dglaw.com
