Yesterday we discussed some of the logo infringement issues associated with Peruto vs Catalyst.  Today we’ll discuss some of the collection issues.  Can you collect money on an ad contract if it’s cancelled after only a few days.  Maybe not if your contract or the record is ambiguous.  Here are the facts.

• In October 2016  Charles Peruto signed a $25,000 four week digital billboard advertising contract with Catalyst Outdoor in order to display an ad which said “Santander: The Bank that Robs You.” Peruto was having a dispute with Santander over a $250,000 prepayment fee.
• Peruto asked for a per diem payment clause in the contract in case the ad was taken down early.  The executed sales contract said: “[Catalyst] has the right to approve advertising copy.  In the event Catalyst needs to remove advertising copy, [Mr. Peruto] will only be billed for the days that [his] advertisements appeared on the units.”
• Santander Bank threatened Peruto with a $250,000/day fine for unauthorized use of the bank’s logo in the digital billboard ad.  Peruto’s son asked Catalyst to take the ad down 3 days into the 25 day flight.
• Catalyst kept the $25,000, arguing that it did not need to remove the copy but was asked to remove the copy by Peruto in order to avoid fines.
• Peruto filed action against Catalyst for refund of his money.  A trial court and appeals court agreed with Peruto that a $20,535 refund was due.  The courts  found that the contract language was ambiguous but that the record seemed to support a consensus among the parties that the ad would not run for a whole month (a higher than normal ad price, placing the ad on a digital sign to facilitate removal andper diem language).

Insider’s take: If a contract is non-refundable the language should say so in as many words.  Per diem language and a record suggesting that both parties are contemplating taking down an ad early will make it have to collect.

[wpforms id=”9787″]

Paid Advertisement