Post by leunas on Jan 11, 2007 14:40:52 GMT -5
(This posting was written by Andreas Lober at Schulte Riesenkampff in Germany.)
Publishers' hopes for additional revenues created through product placement in games get a slash back with some recent decisions coming from Germany.
In Europe, many forms of product placement are currently illegal. While the European Parliament favors a liberalization, the German parliament wants to maintain the strict rules currently applicable in Europe's largest economy.
A Munich court has decided recently that publishers may have to pay back product placement revenues to the advertisers even if the product placement was provided as agreed. Europeans assume that the customer may be mislead by product placement, which is considered as a form of camouflaged advertising.
Publsihers targeting an international audience are therefore well-advised to consider European legislation when designing the product placement, and when drafting the relevant advertising agreements.
The Munich case number is BayObLG München 29 U 4412/05.
www.davis.ca/community/blogs/video_games/archive/2007/01/10/884.aspx
Publishers' hopes for additional revenues created through product placement in games get a slash back with some recent decisions coming from Germany.
In Europe, many forms of product placement are currently illegal. While the European Parliament favors a liberalization, the German parliament wants to maintain the strict rules currently applicable in Europe's largest economy.
A Munich court has decided recently that publishers may have to pay back product placement revenues to the advertisers even if the product placement was provided as agreed. Europeans assume that the customer may be mislead by product placement, which is considered as a form of camouflaged advertising.
Publsihers targeting an international audience are therefore well-advised to consider European legislation when designing the product placement, and when drafting the relevant advertising agreements.
The Munich case number is BayObLG München 29 U 4412/05.
www.davis.ca/community/blogs/video_games/archive/2007/01/10/884.aspx