§ 163-278.39A. Disclosure requirements for television and radio advertisements supporting or opposing the nomination or election of one or more clearly identified candidates.
§ 163‑278.39A. Disclosure requirements fortelevision and radio advertisements supporting or opposing the nomination orelection of one or more clearly identified candidates.
(a) Expanded Disclosure Requirements. Any political campaignadvertisement on radio or television shall comply with the expanded disclosurerequirements set forth in this section. To the extent that it provides the sameinformation required by G.S. 163‑278.39, a statement made pursuant tothis section satisfies the requirements of G.S. 163‑278.39 for the sameadvertisement.
(b) Disclosure Requirements for Television.
(1) Candidate advertisements on television. Televisionadvertisements purchased by a candidate or by a candidate campaign committeesupporting or opposing the nomination or election of one or more clearlyidentified candidates shall include a disclosure statement spoken by thecandidate and containing at least the following words: "I am (or"This is____") [name of candidate], candidate for [name of office],and I (or "my campaign____") sponsored this ad." Thissubdivision applies only to an advertisement that mentions the name of, showsthe picture of, transmits the voice of, or otherwise refers to an opposingcandidate for the same office as the sponsoring candidate.
(2) Political party advertisements on television. Televisionadvertisements purchased by a political party organization supporting oropposing the nomination or election of one or more clearly identifiedcandidates shall include a disclosure statement spoken by the chair, executivedirector, or treasurer of the political party organization and containing atleast the following words: "The [name of political party organization]sponsored this ad opposing/supporting [name of candidate] for [name of office]."The disclosed name of the political party organization shall include the nameof the political party as it appears on the ballot.
(3) Political action committee advertisements on television. Television advertisements purchased by a political action committee supportingor opposing the nomination or election of one or more clearly identifiedcandidates shall include a disclosure statement spoken by the chief executiveofficer or treasurer of the political action committee and containing at leastthe following words: "The [name of political action committee] politicalaction committee sponsored this ad opposing/supporting [name of candidate] for[name of office]." The name of the political action committee used in theadvertisement shall be the name that appears on the statement of organizationas required in G.S. 163‑278.7(b)(1).
(4) Advertisements on television by an individual. Televisionadvertisements purchased by an individual supporting or opposing the nominationor election of one or more clearly identified candidates shall include adisclosure statement spoken by the individual and containing at least thefollowing words: "I am [individual's name], and I sponsored thisadvertisement opposing/supporting [name of candidate] for [name of office]."
(5) Advertisements on television by another sponsor. Television advertisements purchased by a sponsor other than a candidate, acandidate campaign committee, a political party organization, a politicalaction committee, or an individual which supports or opposes the nomination orelection of one or more clearly identified candidates shall include adisclosure statement spoken by the chief executive or principal decision makerof the sponsor and containing at least the following words: "[Name ofsponsor] sponsored this ad."
(6) All advertisements on television. In any televisionadvertisement described in subdivisions (1) through (4) of this subsection, anunobscured, full‑screen picture containing the disclosing individual,either in photographic form or through the actual appearance of the disclosingindividual on camera, shall be featured throughout the duration of thedisclosure statement.
(c) Disclosure Requirements for Radio.
(1) Candidate advertisements on radio. Radio advertisementspurchased by a candidate or by a candidate campaign committee supporting oropposing the nomination or election of one or more clearly identifiedcandidates shall include a disclosure statement spoken by the candidate andcontaining at least the following words: "I am (or "Thisis____") [name of candidate], candidate for [name of office], and this adwas paid for (or "sponsored" or "furnished") by [name ofcandidate campaign committee that paid for the advertisement]." Thissubdivision applies only to an advertisement that mentions the name of,transmits the voice of, or otherwise refers to an opposing candidate for thesame office as the sponsoring candidate.
(2) Political party advertisements on radio. Radioadvertisements purchased by a political party organization supporting oropposing the nomination or election of one or more clearly identifiedcandidates shall include a disclosure statement spoken by the chair, executivedirector, or treasurer of the political party organization and containing atleast the following words: "This ad opposing/supporting [name ofcandidate] for [name of office] was paid for (or "sponsored" or"furnished") by [name of political party]." The disclosed nameof the political party organization shall include the name of the politicalparty as it appears on the ballot.
(3) Political action committee advertisements on radio. Radioadvertisements purchased by a political action committee supporting or opposingthe nomination or election of one or more clearly identified candidates shallinclude a disclosure statement spoken by the chief executive officer ortreasurer of the political action committee and containing at least thefollowing words: "This ad opposing/supporting [name of candidate] for[name of office] was paid for (or "sponsored" or"furnished") by [name of political action committee] political actioncommittee." The name of the political action committee used in theadvertisement shall be the name that appears on the statement of organizationas required by G.S. 163‑278.7(b)(1).
(4) Advertisements on radio by an individual. Radioadvertisements purchased by an individual supporting or opposing the nominationor election of one or more clearly identified candidates shall include adisclosure statement spoken by the individual and containing at least thefollowing words: "I am [individual's name], and this adopposing/supporting [name of candidate] for [name of office] was paid for (or"sponsored" or "furnished") by me."
(5) Advertisements on radio by another sponsor. Radio advertisementspurchased by a sponsor other than a candidate, a candidate campaign committee,a political party organization, a political action committee, or an individualwhich supports or opposes the nomination or election of one or more clearlyidentified candidates shall include a disclosure statement spoken by the chiefexecutive or principal decision maker of the sponsor and containing at leastthe following words: "[Name of sponsor] paid for (or "sponsored"or "furnished") this ad."
(d) Placement of Disclosure Statement in Television and RadioAdvertisements. In advertisements on television, a sponsor may place thedisclosure statement required by this section at any point during theadvertisement, except if the duration of the advertisement is more than fiveminutes, the disclosure statement shall be made both at the beginning and endof the advertisement. The sponsor may provide the oral disclosure statementrequired by this section at the same time as the visual disclosure requiredunder the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. §§ 315 and 317, is shown. Butany visual disclosure legend shall be at least 32 scan lines in size. Foradvertisements on radio, the placement of the oral disclosure statement shallcomply with the requirements of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. §§315 and 317.
(e) Choice of Supporting or Opposing a Candidate. In its oraldisclosure statement, a sponsoring political party organization, politicalaction committee, individual, or other noncandidate sponsor shall choose eitherto identify an advertisement as supporting or opposing the nomination orelection of one or more clearly identified candidates.
(e1) Joint Sponsors. If an advertisement described in thissection is jointly sponsored, the disclosure statement shall name all thesponsors and the disclosing individual shall be one of those sponsors. If acandidate is one of the sponsors, that candidate shall be the disclosingindividual, and if more than one candidate is the sponsor, at least one of thecandidates shall be the disclosing individual.
(f) Legal Remedy. Pursuant to the conditions established insubdivisions (1), (2), and (3) of this subsection, a candidate for an electiveoffice who complied with the television and radio disclosure requirementsthroughout that candidate's entire campaign shall have a monetary remedy in acivil action against (i) an opposing candidate or candidate committee whosetelevision or radio advertisement violates these disclosure requirements and(ii) against any political party organization, political action committee,individual, or other sponsor whose advertisement for that elective officeviolates these disclosure requirements:
(1) Any plaintiff candidate in a statewide race in an actionunder this section shall complete and file a Notice of Complaint RegardingFailure to Disclose on Television or Radio Campaign Advertising with the StateBoard of Elections after the airing of the advertisement but no later than thefirst Friday after the Tuesday on which the election occurred. Candidates innonstatewide races may file the notice during the same time period with onecounty board of elections within the electoral area in which they arecandidates. The timely filing of this notice preserves the candidate's right tobring an action in superior court any time within 90 days after the election. Acandidate shall bring the civil action in the county where the candidate filedthe notice.
(2) Upon receiving a favorable verdict in accordance withexisting law, the plaintiff candidate shall receive a monetary award of actualdamages. The price of actual damages shall be calculated as the total dollaramount of television and radio advertising time that was aired and that theplaintiff candidate correctly identifies as being in violation of thedisclosure requirements of this section.
The plaintiff candidate shall also receive an awardthat trebles the amount of actual damages if:
a. The plaintiff candidate can establish having notified orattempted to notify the sponsor of the advertisement properly by return‑receiptmail about the failure of a particular advertisement or advertisements tocomply with the disclosure requirements of this section, and
b. After the notice or attempted notice, the advertisementcontinued to be aired.
The treble damages shall be calculated from the dateon which the return‑receipt notice was accepted or rejected by adefendant sponsoring candidate or candidate committee, political partyorganization, political action committee, or individual. The plaintiff candidateor candidate committee shall send a copy of any return‑receipt mailing tothe relevant board of elections as provided in subdivision (1) of thissubsection within five days after the notice is returned to the possession ofthe candidate or candidate committee.
The plaintiff candidate may bring the civil actionpersonally or authorize his or her candidate campaign committee to bring thecivil action.
(3) A candidate who violates the disclosure requirements ofState law in this section and that candidate's campaign committee shall bejointly and severally liable for the payment of damages and attorneys' fees. Ifthe candidate is held personally liable for any payment of damages orattorneys' fees, the candidate shall not use or be reimbursed by funds from thecandidate's campaign committee in paying any amount.
(g) Relation to the Communications Act of 1934. Televisionadvertisements by a sponsor supporting or opposing the nomination or electionof one or more clearly identified candidates shall comply with the oraldisclosure requirements under State law in this section. Those advertisementsshall also comply with disclosure requirements under the Communications Act of1934, 47 U.S.C. §§ 315 and 317 by use of visual legends. The content of thosevisual legends is specified by the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. §§ 315and 317, and G.S. 163‑278.39(a)(1). The size of those visual legends isdetermined by G.S. 163‑278.39(b), which satisfies requirements under theCommunications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. §§ 315 and 317. In the case of radioadvertisements, the oral disclosure requirements under State law in thissection incorporate the content requirements under the Communications Act of1934, 47 U.S.C. §§ 315 and 317.
(h) No Additional Liability of Television or Radio Outlets. Television or radio outlets shall not be liable under this Part for carriage ofpolitical advertisements that fail to include the disclosure requirementsprovided for in this Part.
(i) No Criminal Liability. Nothing in this section regardingthe disclosure requirements in subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall berelied upon or otherwise interpreted to create criminal liability. (1999‑453, s. 2(a); 2000‑140, ss. 83, 84; 2001‑317,s. 2.)