Search results : 1510

Under German law, online product recommendations must be clearly labelled as advertising if news portals receive commission from the sale of the related products. The Landgericht Berlin (Berlin Regional Court) stated this in its ruling of 11 February 2020 in Case no. 52 O 194/18 after Germany’s Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (Federation of Consumer Organisations – vzbv) launched proceedings against the media company BuzzFeed. On its news portal’s home page, the company had listed several articles, including one entitled “18 geniale Dinge, die du dir 2018 mit deinem...

On 7 April 2020, the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI), the independent self-regulatory body responsible for promoting the standards of marketing communications in Ireland, issued a  reminder to  advertisers that “any claims being made for products and services referring to COVID-19 should be adequately substantiated.” The ASAI issued the reminder following complaints it had received regarding a number of advertisements for products and services relating to COVID-19 on the grounds that they were misleading. The ASAI stated that it was “absolutely...

On 13 February 2020, the German Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz (Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection) published a draft law designed to create a legal framework for free recommendations by influencers and bloggers. The ministry intends to make it clear that comments on products made by influencers on social media free of charge and primarily for information and opinion-forming purposes do not need to be labelled as advertising. The proposed regulations were drafted following several court decisions in recent years in which the commercial nature of...

In January 2020, after lengthy negotiations, the German Bundesländer reached an agreement on a new system of regulation for gambling in Germany, reflected in a draft Staatsvertrag zur Neuregulierung des Glücksspielwesens in Deutschland (Inter-State Agreement on a New System of Regulation for Gambling in Germany – Glücksspielneuregulierungsstaatsvertrag, GlüNeuRStV). The reforms particularly address the admissibility of various types of Internet-based gambling and the related fields of advertising, the protection of minors and the protection of gamblers.  Under current...

On 17 January 2020, the Italian Council of Ministers approved a draft bill specifically prohibiting ambush marketing which was introduced following a proposal by the Minister of Justice, Alfonso Bonafede. The bill aims at strengthening the protection of the economic interests of companies that sponsor sports events and exhibitions of national and international relevance. The bill should introduce appropriate measures, particularly in light of the upcoming 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, with a view to preventing unauthorised economic players from associating their trademarks or products...