UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Huw Morris, Dominic Bray, Nick Swimer and Rebecca Coleman, Lee & Thompson LLP
Lee & Thompson LLP 80 Charlotte Street London W1T 4DR UK Tel: +44 020 3073 7600 Email: dominicbray@leeandthompson.com Web: www.leeandthompson.com
sioner’s Office (ICO). The Gambling Commission has regulatory oversight through the Gambling Act 2005 (regarding prize competitions). Law There is no codified “marketing and advertising” law in the UK. The applicable framework is a combination of statute and common law relating to different aspects of the industry, as follows. • Intellectual property laws protect creative con - tent, particularly registered and unregistered trade marks/passing off, copyright and designs (espe - cially on product packaging). • Until 6 April 2025, consumer protection was regu - lated by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trad - ing Regulations 2008 (CPRs) and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA). The Digital Markets, Com - petition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) has now replaced and enhanced the CPRs and intro - duced new and powerful enforcement measures, including substantial fines. However, the CPRs continue to apply to unfair commercial practices occurring prior to 6 April 2025. • The use of personal information, especially in elec - tronic marketing, is governed by the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the Privacy in Elec - tronic Communications Regulations (PECR). • The Gambling Act regulates the legality of prize competitions. • The law of defamation and privacy may be relevant where advertising features recognisable individu - als.
1. Legal Framework and Regulatory Bodies 1.1 Primary Laws and Regulation Marketing and advertising are subject to a combina - tion of regulations (general and industry-specific), laws, codes of practice and guidelines. The Regulatory System The primary regulatory controls are set out in two regulatory codes of practice: • the CAP Code (for non-broadcast advertising); and • the BCAP Code (for broadcast advertising) (togeth - er: the “Codes”). The Codes are self-regulatory codes, written by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The BCAP Code is written partly under delegated authority from Ofcom (the communications regulator) in respect of television and radio advertising. Ofcom retains some regulatory oversight over television and radio advertising (including product placement). Industry-specific regulators also restrict the advertis - ing of products and services within their industries via applicable legislation. These include the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Financial Services Act for financial services and products, and the Med - icines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for medicines under the Medicines Act. The use of personal information in marketing com - munications is regulated by the Information Commis -
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