Legal support of advertising campaigns

Legal audit of advertising: what is it and why is it needed?

The answer is simple – in Ukraine there are strict requirements for advertising, both in general and individual products and services. Their violation is fraught with at least fines and monetary losses for the entrepreneur. Unfortunately, advertising agencies, in pursuit of a creative solution, or due to lack of special legal qualifications may not take into account certain requirements of the law.

This is why a lawyer is often involved in advertising from the very beginning of the process, so that initially the advertising campaign was carried out without problems. In such cases, we: 

• Analyze advertising materials, documents and other advertising information. 

• Check advertising materials for compliance with the law. 

• Provide our recommendations and information about possible risks with options to avoid them.

• Assist in preparing all necessary documents, such as agreements with contractors, guest stars, advertising agencies, etc.

• Provide assistance in negotiations with contractors and contractors who are involved in the creation of the advertisement.

• Coordinate the final version of advertising materials.

• Advise and assist with responses to inquiries from supervisory authorities or claims of third parties, if such inquiries and claims arise. 

• Provide legal support of the advertising campaign to the end, help with the solution of disputes in pre-trial or judicial order. 

If there is a need to conduct only an audit of advertising materials or to provide legal services regarding specific aspects of the advertising campaign, the term of services is up to 3 business days after receipt of all documents and information. 

What documents may be required for the audit and organization of the advertising campaign?

Information about the company - information about the customer and its activities.

Promotional materials - photo, video, text, music or edited advertising video. 

Documents, if any - permission for filming from natural persons, contracts with persons who participated in the creation of advertising, documents for the right to use objects of intellectual property, if such documents are ready.

Advertising distribution scheme - information about the customer, manufacturer and distributor of the advertisement.

Information about the advertisement - the type of advertisement, the planned methods of distribution, agreements with the distributors of advertisement.

Website of the company and a list of main competitors in the market of Ukraine.

What does an audit of promotional materials consist of? How much does it cost?

The cost of services depends on the scale of advertising campaign, complexity of legal audit and necessity of development of necessary documents.

For example, the cost of auditing promotional materials, checking for compliance with the law and providing a legal opinion with recommendations and options to avoid the risks of violations or claims is determined depending on the complexity and amount of legal work required. In this case we recommend ordering our “Standard” package. If you need a lawyer to support your advertising campaign at all its stages, it is better to use the “Premium” package.

During the audit of advertising materials we check for: 

• compliance of advertising materials with legal requirements for a particular type of advertising;

• the legal basis for the use of intellectual property in advertising; 

• contracts with advertising intermediaries, contractors and other persons involved in the advertising campaign; 

• availability of necessary permits and licenses; 

• availability of necessary accompanying information, disclaimers, legal terms; 

• legislative restrictions and peculiarities related to advertising of certain types of goods or services (alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, financial services, etc.);

• advertising of competitors, analyze risks of unfair competition. 

It is important to remember that the quality of our work depends on the information, documents and materials that are provided to us. 

We determine the cost of services depending on the scope of work or on the stage, the scale of the advertising campaign or the stage at which we get involved in the work.