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

Television sponsorship is an audiovisual commercial communication and, as such, must comply with all ethical rules applicable to television advertisements . It is also subject to a number of specific provisions laid down in Articles 10(1) of Directive No 2010/13 and 18 of Decree No 92-280.
A sponsored program must not be influenced by the sponsor in any way as regards its content and scheduling, w …

Legal rules

Television sponsorship is an audiovisual commercial communication and, as such, must comply with all ethical rules applicable to television advertisements . It is also subject to a number of specific provisions laid down in Articles 10(1) of Directive No 2010/13 and 18 of Decree No 92-280.

A sponsored program must not be influenced by the sponsor in any way as regards its content and scheduling, which could undermine the responsibility and editorial independence of the media service provider . It must not directly encourage the purchase or rental of the goods or services of the sponsor or a third party, particularly by including “specific promotional references to these goods or services” .

The sponsor must be clearly identified. Viewers must be informed, at the beginning and/or at the end or even during the program of the existence of a sponsorship agreement . This information may take the form of the name, logo and/or any other symbol of the sponsor, “such as a reference to its product(s) or service(s) or a distinctive sign thereof in an appropriate way for programs” (Directive No 2010/13, Art. 10, Decree No 92-280, Art. 18, II, para. 2). Any reference to the sponsor during the course of a program, except in cases where it occurs during a break of the program, must remain occasional and discreet  and be limited to a reminder of the contribution made by the sponsor  and may not take the form of an advertising slogan or the presentation of the product itself or its packaging (Decree No 92-280, Art. 18, III, para. 2) . However, the reference to the sponsor's commercial address cannot be an element of identification .

The mention of the sponsor must be clear and allow to unambiguously identify the advertiser as sponsor of the program .

The inlay in a corner or on the edge of the screen of the name of the sponsor or its logo meets this requirement of discretion . Similarly, during sports broadcasts , the reference to the sponsor's name is regarded as occasional when its time of display does not exceed five seconds, and is separated from another appearance by an interval of at least 10 minutes.

Furthermore, according to Article 23 of Directive No 2010/13, the percentage of broadcasting time of television advertising spots and teleshopping spots must not exceed 20% for the period 06.00 to 18.00 and for the period 18.00 to 24.00. The Court of Justice specified that sponsorship signs presented in programs other than the sponsored program must be included in the maximum broadcasting time of advertising per clock hour fixed in Article 23 of the directive . This article requires that the “black seconds” inserted between different spots of an advertising break or between this break and the television program that follows, are included in the maximum time of 20% of television advertising .

The sponsorship of on-demand audiovisual media services or their programs (ODAMS) is submitted by Decree 2008-1392  to requirements comparable to those laid down in Articles 10(1) of Directive No 2013/10 and 18 of Decree 92-280 concerning the editorial independence of the service editor, the absence of promotional references and the independence of the sponsor and must comply with the ethical rules relating to TV advertising.

 These ethical rules are contained in Article 9(1) of Directive No 2010/13 and Articles 3 to 7 of Decree No 92-280.

 For an application, see CSA, 20 March 2007, notice to Antenne Réunion, LawLex201200001146JBJ.

On the concept of “sports broadcast”, see CSA, 2 May 2012, LawLex201500000988JBJ, giving notice to Eurosport France, holding that the report, in the context of the Skiing World Cup whose races are broadcast on the same channel, devoted to a portrait of a sports personality participating in this competition, cannot be analyzed as the broadcast of a sporting event.

  Case C-314/14 Sanoma media Finland Oy-Nelonen Media, Judgment of 17 February 2016, LawLex201700000002JBJ.

  Case C-314/14, cited above, LawLex201700000002JBJ, ruling given while Article 23 still provided that the percentage of time for the broadcast of television commercials and teleshopping spots within a given clock hour should not exceed 20%.

Decree 2008-1392, Art. 17: “On-demand audiovisual media services or their sponsored programs must meet the following requirements: 1° Their content may in no circumstances be influenced by the sponsor in conditions likely to affect the responsibility and editorial independence of the editor of the service; 2° They do not directly encourage the purchase or rental of goods or services, particularly by making specific promotional references to these goods or services; 3° The sponsorship must be clearly identified as such by the name, logo or another symbol of the sponsor, for example by a reference to its goods or services or of a distinctive sign, in an appropriate manner at the start, end or during the program”.

 See CSA, 20 March 2007, formal notice to Antenne Réunion, LawLex201200001146JBJ. 

Given the silence of former Directive No 89-552, which only required a reference of the sponsor at the beginning and/or end of the program, the Court of Justice had already provided the possibility to insert the name and/or logo of the sponsor at other times in the program: See Case C-320/94 Reti Televisive Italiane SpA (RTI) and others, Judgment of 12 December 1996, LawLex200900000309JBJ.

Article 18, IV, Decree No 92-980 now provides that in trailers, the reference to the sponsor must remain brief and discreet and be limited to a reminder of the contribution made by the sponsor.

See CSA, 18 April 2001, LawLex200300001823JBJ ; 2 May 2012, LawLex201500000988JBJ, putting the undertaking Eurosport France on notice, which holds that the appearance during a report of the name of the sponsor, prominently displayed on the cap of a person filmed on numerous occasions, in close-up for an overall duration of more than 45 seconds, and on a breastplate brandished in front of the camera, does not constitute a one-off, discreet appearance limited to reminding the public of the contribution made by the sponsor, but is surreptitious advertising.

CSA, 18 April 2001, LawLex200300001823JBJ recalling that the use of the sponsor's slogan during a sponsored television program is prohibited by Article 18 of the Decree of 27 March 1992.The Conseil d'Etat has thus allowed the use of images borrowed from a filmed promotional message concerning the sponsor, as long as neither advertising slogan nor presentation of the product itself or its packaging appears, see Cons. d'Et., 28 February 1997, LawLex200300001833JBJ.

 See CSA, 20 March 2007, LawLex201200001146JBJ.

 See CSA, 23 November 2004, LawLex200600001224JBJ, considering that the appearance on the air of a brand of drinks, on the occasion of the distribution of music videos, at the beginning and at the end of them, breaches Article 18, III of the Decree of 27 March 1992, when it does not allow, due to its ambiguous nature, to clearly identify and with certainty the advertiser as the sponsor of the programs.

 See the brochures of the CSA, Advertising, sponsorship and teleshopping on television and radio, January 2008, p.59

French Consumer Law

103. Legal rules

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103. Legal rules

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