§ 73.1212   Sponsorship identification; list retention; related requirements.

   (a) When a broadcast station transmits any matter for which money, service,
   or other valuable consideration is either directly or indirectly paid or
   promised to, or charged or accepted by such station, the station, at the
   time of the broadcast, shall announce:

   (1) That such matter is sponsored, paid for, or furnished, either in whole
   or in part, and

   (2) By whom or on whose behalf such consideration was supplied: Provided,
   however, That “service or other valuable consideration” shall not include
   any service or property furnished either without or at a nominal charge for
   use on, or in connection with, a broadcast unless it is so furnished in
   consideration  for  an identification of any person, product, service,
   trademark, or brand name beyond an identification reasonably related to the
   use of such service or property on the broadcast.

   (i) For the purposes of this section, the term “sponsored” shall be deemed
   to have the same meaning as “paid for.”

   (ii)  In the case of any television political advertisement concerning
   candidates for public office, the sponsor shall be identified with letters
   equal to or greater than four percent of the vertical picture height that
   air for not less than four seconds.

   (b)  The  licensee of each broadcast station shall exercise reasonable
   diligence to obtain from its employees, and from other persons with whom it
   deals directly in connection with any matter for broadcast, information to
   enable such licensee to make the announcement required by this section.

   (c) In any case where a report has been made to a broadcast station as
   required by section 507 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, of
   circumstances which would have required an announcement under this section
   had  the  consideration  been  received  by such broadcast station, an
   appropriate announcement shall be made by such station.

   (d) In the case of any political broadcast matter or any broadcast matter
   involving the discussion of a controversial issue of public importance for
   which any film, record, transcription, talent, script, or other material or
   service  of any kind is furnished, either directly or indirectly, to a
   station as an inducement for broadcasting such matter, an announcement shall
   be made both at the beginning and conclusion of such broadcast on which such
   material or service is used that such film, record, transcription, talent,
   script, or other material or service has been furnished to such station in
   connection  with  the transmission of such broadcast matter: Provided,
   however, That in the case of any broadcast of 5 minutes' duration or less,
   only  one  such  announcement  need be made either at the beginning or
   conclusion of the broadcast.

   (e) The announcement required by this section shall, in addition to stating
   the fact that the broadcast matter was sponsored, paid for or furnished,
   fully and fairly disclose the true identity of the person or persons, or
   corporation, committee, association or other unincorporated group, or other
   entity by whom or on whose behalf such payment is made or promised, or from
   whom or on whose behalf such services or other valuable consideration is
   received, or by whom the material or services referred to in paragraph (d)
   of this section are furnished. Where an agent or other person or entity
   contracts  or otherwise makes arrangements with a station on behalf of
   another, and such fact is known or by the exercise of reasonable diligence,
   as  specified  in paragraph (b) of this section, could be known to the
   station, the announcement shall disclose the identity of the person or
   persons or entity on whose behalf such agent is acting instead of the name
   of such agent. Where the material broadcast is political matter or matter
   involving the discussion of a controversial issue of public importance and a
   corporation, committee, association or other unincorporated group, or other
   entity is paying for or furnishing the broadcast matter, the station shall,
   in addition to making the announcement required by this section, require
   that a list of the chief executive officers or members of the executive
   committee  or of the board of directors of the corporation, committee,
   association or other unincorporated group, or other entity shall be made
   available for public inspection at the location specified under § 73.3526. If
   the broadcast is originated by a network, the list may, instead, be retained
   at the headquarters office of the network or at the location where the
   originating station maintains its public inspection file under § 73.3526.
   Such lists shall be kept and made available for a period of two years.

   (f) In the case of broadcast matter advertising commercial products or
   services, an announcement stating the sponsor's corporate or trade name, or
   the name of the sponsor's product, when it is clear that the mention of the
   name of the product constitutes a sponsorship identification, shall be
   deemed  sufficient  for  the purpose of this section and only one such
   announcement need be made at any time during the course of the broadcast.

   (g) The announcement otherwise required by section 317 of the Communications
   Act of 1934, as amended, is waived with respect to the broadcast of “want
   ad” or classified advertisements sponsored by an individual. The waiver
   granted in this paragraph shall not extend to a classified advertisement or
   want  ad  sponsorship by any form of business enterprise, corporate or
   otherwise. Whenever sponsorship announcements are omitted pursuant to this
   paragraph, the licensee shall observe the following conditions:

   (1) Maintain a list showing the name, address, and (where available) the
   telephone number of each advertiser;

   (2) Make this list available to members of the public who have a legitimate
   interest in obtaining the information contained in the list. Such list must
   be retained for a period of two years after broadcast.

   (h) Any announcement required by section 317(b) of the Communications Act of
   1934, as amended, is waived with respect to feature motion picture film
   produced initially and primarily for theatre exhibition.

   Note: The waiver heretofore granted by the Commission in its Report and
   Order adopted November 16, 1960 (FCC 60-1369; 40 F.C.C. 95), continues to
   apply  to programs filmed or recorded on or before June 20, 1963, when
   § 73.654, the predecessor television rule, went into effect.

   (i) Commission interpretations in connection with the provisions of the
   sponsorship identification rules are contained in the Commission's Public
   Notice, entitled “Applicability of Sponsorship Identification Rules,” dated
   May 6, 1963 (40 F.C.C. 141), as modified by Public Notice, dated April 21,
   1975 (FCC 75-418). Further interpretations are printed in full in various
   volumes of the Federal Communications Commission Reports.

   [ 40 FR 18400 , Apr. 28, 1975, as amended at  46 FR 13907 , Feb. 24, 1981;  49 FR 4211 , Feb. 3, 1984;  49 FR 33663 , Aug. 24, 1984;  50 FR 32417 , Aug. 12, 1985;
    57 FR 8279 , Mar. 9, 1992;  77 FR 27655 , May 11, 2012]

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