Advertising and Marketing Law
(Course 25120)
Spring 2016
Adj. Prof. Paul C. Van Slyke
University of Houston Law Center
pcvanslyke@gmail.com
(713) 735-4129
This class begins on January 21 and will continue through April 28, excluding March 17 for
Spring Break
CLASS:
Location: 213 BLB
Thursday 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Office Hours:
Location: 2 BLB Adjunct Faculty
Thursday 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM
The course book is REBECCA TUSHNET AND ERIC GOLDMAN, ADVERTISING AND MARKETING
LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS (2d ed. Aug. 2014). Students can buy the book as follows:
PDF:
https://gumroad.com/l/vnCkL
ePub:
https://gum.co/MJwn
Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MRHG3UK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&cre
ative=390957&creativeASIN=B00MRHG3UK&linkCode=as2&tag=techandmarkla20&linkId=2WWYWN7PW66NYJ74
Hard copy:
https://www.createspace.com/4953960 and https://www.createspace.com/5001930
(It's in 2 volumes, and students will need both. Does not have color prints as found in the
PDF)
1. Goals
You will learn the basics of false advertising under the Lanham Act, Federal Trade Commission
regulation and enforcement, state attorney general enforcement, consumer class actions,
substantiation of advertising claims, Internet advertising, consumer protection, privacy, data
protection, trademark law, business torts, constitutional law, copyright law, social media
marketing, and several other areas of law that are important to advertising and marketing to
consumers. A good student will be able to review advertising and promotional campaigns and
make them compliant with regulations and the law.
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2. Graded Components
10% Class Participation
15% Weekly Evaluations
75% Final Exam
Class Participation (10%)
You must be present and attentive if you plan to do well in this class. For your participation
grade, I will consider your contributions to discussions and your engaged attention during class.
I may reduce your participation grade for any activity that interferes with your or your peers’
learning ability.
Weekly Evaluations (15%)
There will be a quiz on the readings very frequently (almost every class session). The quizzes
are not intended to be tricky. This weekly evaluation grade is designed to promote attendance
and to check whether students are completing readings by the assigned date. Approximately two
of your lowest quiz grades will be dropped by the end of the semester to account for unavoidable
absences. These quizzes cannot be made up.
Final Exam (75%)
Your Final Exam will cover false advertising under the Lanham Act, Federal Trade Commission
regulation and enforcement, state attorney general enforcement, consumer class actions,
substantiation of advertising claims, Internet advertising, consumer protection, privacy, data
protection, trademark law, business torts, constitutional law, copyright law, social media
marketing, and several other areas of law that are important to advertising and marketing to
consumers.
3. Class Policies
Grading Policy
I will make every effort to be fair in grading. If you believe that a mistake has been made in the
grading of a class assignment, follow these procedures:
1. You must wait 24 hours after receiving your graded material to report a mistake.
2. If the mistake is simple and obvious, simply bring the paper to my next office hours.
3. If the mistake is not simple or obvious, write and support an explanation for why your
grade should be changed and bring it with you to my next office hours.
This class will meet the GPA average mandated by the University of Houston Law School. Here
is an approximation of the grade distribution:
10%
15%
15%
20%
15%
A
AB+
B
B-
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15% C+
10% C and below
Attendance
Student attendance is expected, but will not be imposed. I expect you to be on time. If you have
to miss class for any reason, it is your responsibility, except for the 80% rule required by the
Law Center, to cover any missed material. Participation is a holistic grade. If you must miss
class, simply perform better when you are present and your grade will not be affected. It is
necessary to be an active participant when present, and not to miss many classes.
4. Schedule (reading assignments are estimates; schedule subject to change).
NOTE: Most reading assignments are extremely long! Allow yourself enough time.
Week 1 (Jan. 21): Overview. Read Chapter 1 and parts 1-2 of Chapter 2.
Week 1 (Jan. 28): What is an Ad? Read parts 3-4 of Chapter 2.
Week 3 (Feb. 4): False Advertising: Overview. Read Chapter 3.
Week 4 (Feb. 11): False Advertising: Deception. Read Chapter 4 (parts 1, 2, 3 and 8 only) and
Chapter 5 (parts 1 and 2 only).
Week 5 (Feb. 18): False Advertising: Competitor Suits. Read Chapter 6.
Week 6 (Feb. 25): False Advertising: Practice and Remedies. Read Chapter 8.
Week 7 (Mar. 3): Copyrights. Read Chapter 10.
Week 8 (March 10): Brand Protection and Usage. Read Chapter 11.
Week 9 (March 24): Competitive Restrictions. Read Chapter 12.
Week 10 (March 31): Featuring People in Ads. Read Chapter 13.
Week 11 (April 7): Privacy. Read Chapter 14.
Week 12 (April 14): The Advertising Industry Ecosystem. Read Chapter 16.
Week 13 (April 21): Promotions. Read Chapter 15.
Week 14 (April 28): Green Marketing/Organic Marketing. Read pages 1359-1388.
Week 15 (May 12): FINAL EXAM 6:00 – 8:00 PM.
5. Emailing Professor
When emailing me, please reference “Advertising Law” in the subject line to avoid
unintentional deletion as spam and confusion.
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