French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

The press sector, which is one of the sectors for which television advertising is prohibited, may, since the amendment of Article 8 of Decree No 92-280 by Decree No 2003-960 of 7 October 2003 , use television advertising. To specify the conditions in which television advertising in favor of the press sector can operate, the CSA issued a recommendation , which states that this advertising must inte …

Advertising for the press sector

The press sector, which is one of the sectors for which television advertising is prohibited, may, since the amendment of Article 8 of Decree No 92-280 by Decree No 2003-960 of 7 October 2003 , use television advertising. To specify the conditions in which television advertising in favor of the press sector can operate, the CSA issued a recommendation , which states that this advertising must integrate the prohibitions of access to television advertising that applies to certain sectors, to protect public health (tobacco or tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, prescription drugs, firearms) or to preserve cultural diversity (cinema, literary publishing):

-  advertising for a press publication devoted specifically to tobacco or its products or for the benefit of any other publication which refers, other than under a critical angle, to tobacco or tobacco products is prohibited (point I.A.1) of the recommendation);

-  advertising for a press publication devoted specifically to alcoholic beverages or for the benefit of any other publication which ostensibly refers to alcoholic beverages or presents their consumption under a favorable light, is prohibited (point I.A.2) of the recommendation);

-  advertising for a specialised press title on medicines is not prohibited, but no reference, other than generic or critical, may be made to a drug subject to medical prescription, unless the advertisement is broadcast in a program only accessible to health professionals (point I.A.3) of the recommendation) ;

- advertising for a press publication, specialised or not, must not ostensibly refer to firearms, their ammunitions or present their use under a favorable light, unless it is broadcast on television services devoting more than one third of their programs to hunting, fishing or shooting (point I.A.4) of the recommendation);

- advertising for a press title, specialised or not, which clearly refers to a film being shown in cinemas or about to be, is prohibited (point I.B.1) of the recommendation);

- television services other than those distributed by cable or broadcast by satellite may not broadcast advertising for a press title, specialized or not, which clearly refers to the launch of a book or collection (Point I.B.2) of the recommendation).

- advertising for a press publication referring to a retail brand is lawful provided that it does not refer to commercial promotional operations (point I.B.3) of the recommendation).

- television advertising in favor of a publication referring to a political personality, event or group is lawful, provided it does not broadcast, during the election period, advertising whose content could weigh on the ballot (point II of the recommendation) ;

- advertising for a publication containing pornographic images is prohibited on television services not authorized to show programs prohibited to minors (point III of the recommendation) .

The recommendation finally sets out that the rules  that governed television advertising for “composite” products, associating an audio or video cassette, a CD, video game, CD-ROM or DVD with a fascicle, are no longer needed due to the opening of advertising slots to the media sector.

 See, before the adoption of Decree No 2003-960, Coouncil of State, 18 May 1998, LawLex200300001831JBJ; CSA, 21 December 1995, imposing a sanction on Métropole Télévision (M6), LawLex200300001817JBJ, complacent presentation of the cover of a magazine of the written press, during a program with the same name; 12 June 2001, giving notice to France 3, LawLex200300001824JBJ: journalists of a television channel inviting viewers to purchase a press title and presenting the front page of its supplement three times; 12 June 2001, giving notice to TF1, LawLex200300001830JBJ: repeated promotion of a monthly publication in a program produced in association with this magazine; 16 April 2002, giving notice to LCI, LawLex200400000402JBJ.

 CSA recommendation on television advertising in favor of the media sector of 19 December 2003.

 This regime applies a fortiori to non-specialised publications.

 According to the recommendation, advertisements of a nature to weigh on the ballot are “advertisements containing references, verbal or visual, to candidates or lists of candidates, the electoral competition or possible consequences of the election at the local, regional or national level” (point II of the recommendation).

 However, advertising for publications of an erotic nature that contain no pornographic images is authorised on television services other than those intended for young people, provided that they are shown according to the procedure laid down by  Arcom for works prohibited to those under the age of sixteen, i.e. after 8:30 pm on cinema services and pay-per-view, after 10.30 pm on the other services.

 This mechanism, contained in a circular letter of 1 June 1999, recommended, in particular:that the fascicle should be of a nature incidental to the main purpose (audio/video cassette, CD, video game or CD ROM); that the advertisement must highlight the main element and only mention the secondary element on an incidental basis, with no complacent or isolated presentation; that the fascicle must be closely related to the principal products, contain the same title and must not be able to be marketed independently of its support;  that it must exclusively deal with the subjects of the main product and not constitute a supplement containing a diversified approach of the topics addressed; that, finally, the fascicle must not include the sale of advertising spaces; only advertising for the collections offered by the publisher can be admitted.

French Consumer Law

98. Advertising for the press sector

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98. Advertising for the press sector

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise