The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided on November 22, 2024 an interesting First Amendment case involving the advertising of marijuana. Here’s the facts: The State of Mississippi passed in 2022 the “Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act,” which authorized the sale and use of marijuana for certain medicinal purposes. The Act […]
By Richard Rothfelder, Rothfelder & Falick An all too familiar piece of correspondence received by our billboard clients from TxDOT or other State DOTs is the Notice of Administrative Penalties or Notice of Illegal Sign. You know the form, in which TxDOT recites vague factual allegations, which in turn supposedly […]
Last week, Billboard Insider reported on the required grounds to cancel an outdoor advertising contract, as demonstrated in the Arizona case of Outfront Media vs Hart & Assoc. Specifically, “notice of termination of a contract must be clear, positive and unequivocal,” according to the Court. As such, the comment from […]
A Billboard Insider reader asks: “I am carving out a billboard easement on a property which I own and want to sell. How big should the easement be. Should it just cover the base of the sign (10’ by 10’ ) or should it be larger (say 50’ by 50’) […]
As I reported in the May 7, 2024 issue of Billboard Insider (“ROTHFELDER ON THE FTC’s NON-COMPETE RULE”), the Federal Trade Commission issued an administrative rule banning non-compete agreements in employment. These non-compete clauses are regularly used in the out of home industry, and are designed to protect the business […]
An eastern out of home executive weighs in on the Richard Rothfelder”s article reviewing Texas DOT vs Primary Media. “Seems like the judge got it wrong. I haven’t reviewed the case and all the details, but it sounds like the billboard company got screwed. Government not following through on their […]
The process of eminent domain or condemnation, under which the government can take private property for public use, is usually frustrating and often unfair. Whether the property owner likes it or not, the only safeguard and check on this awesome power is the constitutional obligation to pay just and adequate […]
It seems like “Hurricane Season” arrives earlier and leaves later every year, and that’s certainly been the case in my hometown of Houston and the Gulf Coast. This year, the devastation caused by Hurricanes Beryl, Debbie, and several others has been enormous, tragically taking hundreds of lives and causing billions […]
The usual out of home industry legal practice is to record a memorandum of lease as opposed to the full lease in order not to disclose proprietary details to competitors or other landlords in a market. A Billboard Insider Reader asks “Is there potential for a lawsuit if a new […]
Virtually every State requires that the operator demonstrate private access for the erection and maintenance of his billboard. The Texas Department of Transportation, for example, states in 43 Texas Administrative Code Section 21.199(a)(2) that it is a ground for cancellation of the permit if the billboard is maintained from the […]
