The Advertising Law Blog provides commentary and news on developing legal issues in advertising, promotional marketing, Internet, and privacy law. This blog is sponsored by the Advertising, Marketing & Promotions group at Olshan. The practice is geared to servicing the needs of the advertising, promotional marketing, and digital industries with a commitment to providing personal, efficient and effective legal service.
On September 1, 2025, Texas’s amended telemarketing law became effective. It significantly broadened the state's rules by explicitly adding text messages (SMS), multimedia messages (MMS) and other electronic communications into the definition of “telephone solicitation.” The law, amended through Senate Bill SB 140, does not change the consent requirement for telemarketing but in addition to expanding the registration requirements, it establishes harsher penalties for violations compared to the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Because the law contains a private right of action, we are expecting a sharp increase in consumer lawsuits in Texas.
Chair of Olshan’s Intellectual Property Law Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Management & Protection Group Mary Grieco and Branding Department associate Morgan Spina published an article in Bloomberg Law entitled “OpenAI Trademark Victory Sets Roadmap for Avoiding IP Missteps.” In the article, Mary and Morgan discuss the key takeaways in the recent California ruling in which U.S. District Judge Yvonne Rogers sided with OpenAI in its trademark suit against Silicon Valley entrepreneur Guy Ravine and his company “Open Artificial Intelligence,” ruling that Ravine had violated OpenAI’s trademark rights, even though he registered the “open.ai” domain months before OpenAI’s founding.
Olshan announced that nine of the firm’s lawyers have been recognized for inclusion in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, including Andrew Lustigman and Mary Grieco, and four lawyers have been recognized to the “Ones to Watch” list.
Andrew Lustigman, Chair of Olshan's Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Management & Protection Group, and Branding Department associate Morgan Spina published an article in Bloomberg Law entitled “Marketers Must Remain Vigilant Following ‘Click to Cancel’ Death.” In the article, Andy and Morgan analyze the Federal Trade Commision’s (FTC) “Negative Option Rule” known as the “Click to Cancel” Rule, a regulation requiring companies with subscriptions services to make cancellation as accessible and easy as signing ...
Andrew Lustigman, Chair of Olshan's Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Management & Protection Group, will speak on the panel “Look-Alike Products: Are Brand Owners Making a Comeback?” as part of the session “Hot Topics in Intellectual Property, Communications and Technology” at the International Bar Association’s Annual Conference 2025, which will be held in Toronto, Canada, on November 3 from 2:30 P.M. - 5:30 P.M.
Andrew Lustigman, Chair of Olshan's Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Management & Protection Group, and Branding Department associate Morgan Spina published an article in Law360 entitled “Influencer Marketing Partnerships Face Rising Litigation Risk.” In the article, Andy and Morgan discuss how social media marketing has matured and how brands and influencers are dealing with an increase of lawsuits due to their failure to meet legal disclosure requirements.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) went into effect in 1998. The DMCA was enacted to provide copyright protection from online infringement, provide safe havens for online service providers from being sued for copyright infringement, and make it illegal to circumvent systems designed to protect copyrighted works. By many accounts, the law has been a success to both copyright holders and publishers.