Legal Analysis of the Law on Advertising

By Alex Frishberg

The Ukrainian law 'On Advertising' ('Law') regulates any manufacture (production), distribution and consumption of advertising on the territory of Ukraine.  The Law defines advertising rather broadly as information regarding a person or a product distributed in any form and in any manner and designated to form or support the advertising consumers' knowledge and their interest with respect to such person or good.  The Law also defines a good (or a product) in all-encompassing manner as any products, works, services, securities, objects of rights of intellectual property.  In combination, this means that practically any teeniest slice of information can be treated as advertising according to these definitions. 

What does it mean to me?

The above provisions define advertising and related activities rather broadly.  On a practical level, they tie advertising to ordinary, normal commercial (business) activity.  Under these conditions, stating the name of a company or a product is (mis)labeled as advertising, which then results in a payment demand.  Logically, stating several names of several goods or products by different manufacturers may be considered comparative advertising. 

This does not mean that any statement of a product name in an article in a magazine is advertising of the product or its manufacturer.  It just means that some (but by no means all) journalists need extra cash.