16-925. Advertising and fundraising disclosure statements

655 words·~3 min read·/az/title-16/16-925

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

A. A person that makes an expenditure for an advertisement or fundraising solicitation, other than an individual, shall include the following disclosures in the advertisement or solicitation:

1. The words "paid for by", followed by the name of the person making the expenditure for the advertisement or fundraising solicitation.

2. Whether the expenditure was authorized by any candidate, followed by the identity of the authorizing candidate, if any.

B. In addition to the disclosure required by subsection A of this section, a political action committee that makes an expenditure for an advertisement shall include a disclosure stating:

1. The names of the three political action committees making the largest aggregate contributions to the political action committee making the expenditure, if those aggregate contributions exceed $20,000 during the election cycle, as calculated at the time the advertisement was distributed for publication, display, delivery or broadcast.

2. The aggregate percentage of out-of-state contributors as calculated at the time the advertisement was produced for publication, display, delivery or broadcast. The disclosure shall state "paid for by _____" as prescribed by subsection A of this section, followed by "with _____% from out-of-state contributors" with the blank to be filled by the aggregate percentage prescribed by this paragraph.

C. If a disclosure contains any acronym or nickname that is not commonly known, the disclosure shall also spell out the acronym or provide the full name.

D. If the advertisement is:

1. Broadcast on radio, the disclosure shall be clearly spoken at the beginning or end of the advertisement.

2. Delivered by hand or by mail, the disclosure shall be clearly readable, and if the advertisement is paid for by a political action committee, the disclosure shall be displayed in a height that is at least ten percent of the vertical height of the advertisement.

3. Delivered electronically, the disclosure shall be clearly readable.

4. Displayed on a sign or billboard, the disclosure shall be displayed in a height that is at least four percent of the vertical height of the sign or billboard, except that if the advertisement is paid for by a political action committee, the disclosure shall be displayed in a height that is at least ten percent of the vertical height of the sign or billboard.

5. Broadcast on television or in a video or film, both of the following requirements apply:

(a)The disclosure shall be both written and spoken at the beginning or end of the advertisement, except that if the written disclosure statement is displayed for the greater of at least one-sixth of the broadcast duration or four seconds, a spoken disclosure statement is not required.

(b)The written disclosure statement shall be printed in letters that are displayed in a height that is at least four percent of the vertical picture height, except that if the advertisement is paid for by a political action committee, the written disclosure statement shall be displayed in a height that is at least ten percent of the vertical picture height.

E. This section does not apply to:

1. Social media messages, text messages or messages sent by a short message service.

2. Advertisements that are placed as a paid link on a website, if the message is not more than two hundred characters in length and the link directs the user to another website that complies with this section.

3. Advertisements that are placed as a graphic or picture link, if the statements required in this section cannot be conveniently printed due to the size of the graphic or picture and the link directs the user to another website that complies with this section.

4. Bumper stickers, pins, buttons, pens and similar small items on which the statements required in this section cannot be conveniently printed.

5. A solicitation of contributions by a separate segregated fund.

6. A communication by a tax-exempt organization solely to its members.

7. A published book or a documentary film or video.