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.
Equinox Group, LLC, the operator of Equinox and SoulCycle fitness clubs, recently entered into a settlement agreement with the New York Attorney General’s Office (“OAG”). Under the settlement terms contained in the Assurance of Discontinuance, Equinox agreed to pay $600,000 and overhaul its subscription and cancellation practices. The deal was announced in May 2025, following the OAG’s investigation into Equinox’s automatic renewal terms and cancellation processes. While the monetary penalty is notable, it is the prospective reforms that are more consequential for ongoing industry compliance.
With the rise of the use of generative AI training comes the risk of potential lawsuits from copyright owners whose works have been used without their authorization. The US Copyright Office is stepping up to provide guidance to keep up with this evolving technology and help define what constitutes fair use.
Chair of Olshan's Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Management & Protection Group Andrew Lustigman has been appointed the International Bar Association’s Treasurer of the Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Committee, to serve from January 2025 to December 2026. The IBA’s Legal Practice Division Committees provide invaluable services to members through conferences, webinars, projects and publications, including the IBA Annual Conference in Toronto, November 2-7, 2025.
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 “Food Marketing, Advertising, and Promotion Essentials: Ensuring Claims Compliancy and Meeting Substantiation Standards Relative to Health, Nutrition, Structure, and Function” as part of ACI’s Food Law and Regulation Boot Camp which will be held virtually on July 22, 2025, at 4:00 P.M. The panel will examine the relationship between the food product label and advertising and promotion, how to differentiate between “claims made” and “claims substantiated,” understanding what you can and cannot say in food advertising and promotion, how to distinguish FDA and FTC jurisdiction and authority relative to claims substantiation in food advertising and promotion, and much more.
As many readers of this blog know, “keyword advertising” is an online marketing tool whereby advertisers purchase a keyword or phrase from internet search engine providers, especially Google. When a consumer searches for a term that has been purchased, the search returns sponsored links, typically marked as “Ad,” “Sponsored” or “Promoted,” as the top results, above even those results generated by the search engine’s algorithm.
For foreign trademark owners filing a US application through WIPO seems the obvious choice due to the ease and apparent limited cost of filing. However, US trademark law differs in a number of ways from many countries and a WIPO filing rather than national may be more troublesome (and expensive) than it seems.
The FTC’s long-awaited Final Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees went into effect on May 12, 2025. The Final Rule seeks to eliminate “bait and switch” or “drip” pricing and instill transparency in connection with the offering of live ticketing events and short-term lodging. The Final Rule builds on certain state pricing transparency laws, such as those in effect in California and Minnesota, whose requirements apply to transactions beyond those identified by the FTC.
As we have reported previously, at the end of 2024, the Lina Khan-led Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) completed the process of updating its Negative Option Rule by finalizing the Rule Concerning Recurring Subscriptions and Other Negative Option Programs (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule’s expansive prohibition against misrepresenting any material fact made while marketing using a negative option feature went into effect on January 14, 2025, with the balance of the substantive requirements scheduled to go into effect this week on May 14, 2025. These provisions include the requirements to obtain a consumer’s express informed consent to the negative option feature before charging the consumer and to provide consumers with a simple mechanism to cancel the recurring charges.
Chair of Olshan's Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Management & Protection Group Andrew Lustigman will participate in a panel discussion at ACI’s Legal and Regulatory Think Tank for Working with Influencers, which will be held virtually on July 16, 2025, at 2:00 P.M.