Don’t Put Borat on Your Billboards – And More I.P. Advice for Cannabis Companies
Billboard companies have been persistent in challenging local zoning ordinances dealing with signs for many years now. In a case decided August 10, 2023, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Troy, Michigan, in...more
In today’s advertising landscape, billboard leases can provide landowners and billboard owners and operators with a mutually beneficial arrangement, offering opportunities for visibility and revenue. However, it is crucial to...more
Building owners may have a hidden income-generating asset – their roof. Utilizing rooftop space to advertise, by placing a sign or painting an advertisement onto a roof, is a rising trend, particularly in areas surrounding...more
Maryland and Ohio courts disagree on whether taxing billboards violates the 1st amendment. Will the Supreme Court weigh in? How will this affect the surge of interest in targeted taxes on digital advertising? Matt Hunsaker...more
Some cannabis companies are facing unanticipated headwinds as a result of the emerging patchwork of state cannabis regulations—including unwanted attention from state attorneys general. Connecticut, for example, has long...more
The Ohio Supreme Court recently struck down a billboard tax as unconstitutional in Lamar Advantage GP Co., LLC v. Cincinnati, Slip Opinion No. 2021-Ohio-3155. The case evaluated an excise tax placed on the installing,...more
Why would a small cannabis dispensary choose to plaster the fictional character Borat on its billboard – without asking permission? This misjudgment resulted in a $9 million lawsuit; but it’s not an isolated incident. In...more
Billboards are ubiquitous in the landscape along major Florida thoroughfares, at times seemingly blending into their surroundings. They dot (some would say mar) the landscape on farms and ranches along interstates and on...more
On February 15, 2021, the Maryland Court of Appeals issued a decision in Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc. v. Director, Department of Finance of Baltimore City, Case No. 24-C-18-001778 (Md. 2021), upholding the constitutionality of...more
Last May, in Commissioner of the State of New York Department of Transportation, et al. v Polite, Index No. 610010/2019, the Suffolk County Supreme Court denied the State’s application for a preliminary injunction to enjoin...more
Advertising cannabis products along California’s interstate highways, briefly lived, is now significantly restricted. On January 21, 2021, the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) released a notice explaining that,...more
You may have recently received a notice from the Bureau of Cannabis Control, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and/or the California Department of Public Health regarding billboard advertisements featuring...more
The San Luis Obispo County Superior Court recently granted a petition to ban almost all outdoor cannabis advertising on more than 4,000 miles of California highways. The case was brought by county resident Matthew Farmer, who...more
Such Regulations are Subject to Strict Scrutiny, Ninth Circuit Rules - A city ordinance that prohibits parking mobile billboards on public streets, but exempts authorized emergency or construction-related vehicles, is a...more
While the end of session seemed to be just around the corner last week, legislators jumped back in this week, taking up a number of highly-debated and controversial bills both on the floor and in committee. All the while,...more
This year's long session continues to trudge along as Senate lawmakers were all set to hit the road after session Monday but wound up sticking around until Wednesday morning after all. This time around Senate leadership is...more
The House and Senate both had heavy calendars as they approached this week’s crossover deadline. Since the deadline has passed, any bill not dealing with taxes or the budget, and any bill that has not passed at least one...more
The Second District Court of Appeal held that the purported amendment of an agreement to extend the period in which billboards were permitted within the City constituted a new agreement and hence violated the terms of a...more
Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. ...more
Two recent New York cases brought to mind the well-known poem about trees. No, not the one written by Joyce Kilmer. The other one, written by Ogden Nash. Who can ever forget those immortal words. “I think that I shall never...more
Many of California’s roadways are littered with advertising. A question regarding oversight of roadside billboards, however, has long remained: Does the state have ultimate control or can municipalities weigh in on...more
No State Preemption of Local Billboard Regulations, California Appellate Court Finds - The Outdoor Advertising Act does not preempt local regulation of billboards, a California appellate court has ruled. In a decision...more
Long-Standing Questions Addressed by California Appellate Court - The Outdoor Advertising Act does not preempt cities and counties from regulating billboards in unincorporated areas, a California Appellate Court ruled....more
On September 21, Governor Snyder signed a package of bills (2016 PA 281-283) that significantly expands the types of medical marijuana facilities permitted under state law, and establishes a licensing scheme similar to the...more
Municipal ordinances prohibiting mobile billboard advertising were recently upheld by a federal appeals court. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the ordinances withstood First Amendment scrutiny as...more