By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

The Licence

The licence needs to cover specific terms on permitted use of the content (which media, social platform or brand’s own site, time limitations, geographical restrictions).

Similarly, where a photo contains a material image of a different brand, a licence must be in place authorising the use by the second brand.

Photos generally may not include identifiable people (without explicit consent from the person). At experiential marketing promotions, active consent (that can be linked to the photo) needs to be obtained from people appearing in photographs that the brand wishes to use for commercial purposes.

Awarding Prizes

Where awarding prizes or rewards or allocating gifts to participants, the promoter needs to be clear it is not responsible for any items manufactured by third parties and this should be clear in the terms and conditions. Remember, if the prizes are branded, the promoter may not use the mark or logo of the products unless it has permission from that brand owner.

Events

Referring to an event which has official sponsors but where your brand is not one of the sponsors means your brand is breaching the copyright of the event owner. Sometimes tickets to these events are only available to be given away as prizes to brands that sponsor the event. As these brands pay large amounts for sponsorship they, as well as the event organisers, will notice if other brands are offering prizes to the event!

Your brand would risk a claim for damages for copyright infringement. It’s therefore recommended not to offer prizes to events without a sponsorship deal in place. When there is a sponsorship deal in place, it will include the specific name of the event and any approved logos which can be used. The brand should ensure the terms of any sponsorship agreement are complied with. The major sporting bodies particularly (UEFA, FIFA, IOC, etc) are hot on enforcing breaches of their protected rights.

In this lesson, we examined the wider commercial and legal considerations that sit alongside formal advertising regulation. We explored how intellectual property rights protect creative works and why brands must obtain proper permissions before using consumer-generated or third-party content. We also considered liability in prize promotions, including the importance of clear terms and conditions and defined responsibilities when working with third-party suppliers. Finally, we looked at sponsorship and event rights, highlighting the risks of implying association without formal agreements in place.

The overarching message is that promotional marketing must balance creativity with careful rights management, ensuring campaigns are not only engaging but legally and commercially sound.