Publishers could face charges over ads for unauthorised Olympics tickets

The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) said that the publishers themselves could also face criminal charges relating to unauthorised sale of the tickets by carrying such adverts.

Only "authorised ticket resellers" are entitled to sell or advertise for sale Games under the terms and conditions of ticket purchases established by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). "Tickets ... must not be sold nor advertised for sale whether on the internet, in newspapers or elsewhere," the LOCOG terms state.

Under the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act unauthorised ticket touts face criminal convictions if they are caught selling, advertising, or offering to sell, Olympic tickets in the course of a business or to make a profit. Individuals can be fined £20,000 for the offence.

Earlier this year the Metropolitan Police issued a warning to consumers that they risk having their personal details stolen by individuals advertising Olympics tickets illegally in the media. The force issued the warning after discovering adverts for Games tickets in the "national and international media" that asked the public to contact a mobile phone number or email address in order to access "more information" about the advertised tickets.

CAP said publishers also had to ensure that adverts placed by authorised sellers comply with its CAP Code. The Code prohibits misleading advertising, among other things, and contains specific provisions relating to the display of price information in adverts.

Publishers should note the way advertisers state the price of Olympics tickets, CAP said. Advertisers can only include the applicable "face-value" price of the tickets "without qualification ... if no mandatory extra charges apply, otherwise inclusive prices should be charged," it said.

Under the CAP Code marketers are prohibited from including "price statements" that "mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion". The "quoted prices" have to include any charges that apply to at least most buyers.

If mandatory charges do apply to the sale of Olympics tickets, advertisers " must state a ‘from’ price of the minimum inclusive price" and if the "face-value price varies" the ads should state the range of the variance or include a 'from' price, CAP said. The ad body added that notification of extra charges should be displayed in a manner "no less prominent than the price".

In a separate warning about Olympics marketing, LOCOG said that businesses would be "likely" to be infringing on their rights by operating any sort of marketing campaigns themed on the Olympics.

"Our legal rights are very wide and therefore any ‘Olympic’ themed campaign is likely to infringe them – even if it doesn’t refer explicitly to the Games," LOCOG told CAP in a question-and-answer session. "If a business is looking to undertake a marketing campaign which capitalises on the Games we would ask them to consider the ethics of doing so."

"Trying to associate a brand with the Games, and to feed off the excitement and goodwill in the Games, when you have not paid the sponsorship fees to do so directly damages the funding for the Games and the British Olympic and Paralympic Teams competing at them. The best way to support the Games and our athletes is to respect the legal framework and not attempt to leverage the Games in marketing campaigns."

"Some businesses think that if they don’t use any of our logos or refer explicitly to the Games, this won’t infringe our rights. However, the London Olympics Association Right is drafted widely so that any representation which creates an association between a business or brand with the Games (subject to certain defences) infringes the right," LOCOG said.

Under the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act advertisers cannot use any two of the following terms together: 'Games', 'Two thousand and twelve', '2012' and 'Twenty twelve'. Neither can they use one of those terms in conjunction with any of: 'Gold', 'Silver', 'Bronze', 'London', 'Medals', 'Sponsors', 'Summer'. Breaking the terms of the Act could result in a £20,000 fine. Only official sponsors are allowed to use the terms as part of promotions.

Traders will also generally be said to be infringing on the London Olympics Association Right "if in the course of trade ... [and] in relation to goods or services" they use "any representation (of any kind) in a manner likely to suggest to the public that there is an association between the London Olympics" and their goods or services, or their business.

There are exceptions where non-sponsors would not be said to be infringing on the London Olympics Association Right. These include where "the use of a representation ... is necessary to indicate the intended purpose of a product or service". Publishers or broadcasters can also make representations where they are are merely providing information about the Games.