A. A person shall incorporate the following statements in a campaign, officeholder, or legal defense communication: (Amended by Ord. No. 182,362, Eff. 1/30/13.)
1. “Paid for by” immediately followed by the name, address, and city of that candidate or committee. The address and city are not required in an audio communication.
a. If the communication is made by a controlled committee, the name of the person controlling the committee shall also be included.
b. If an acronym is used to specify a committee name, the full name of any sponsoring organization of the committee shall also be included.
2. “Additional information is available at ethics.lacity.org.” A substantially similar statement that specifies the web site may be used as an alternative in audio communications.
1. “Paid for by” immediately followed by the committee’s name, address, and city. If an acronym is used to specify a committee name, the full name of the sponsoring committee shall also be included.
2. “Not authorized by or coordinated with a City candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate.” This statement is not required if the independent expenditure communication supports or opposes only a City ballot measure.
3. “Major funding provided by [names of the two contributors who gave the most to the committee in the six months prior to the date of the payment for the independent expenditure communication], in the amount of [the total amount of contributions made by those contributors in the same six-month period].”
a. The amount of the contributions is not required in an audio communication.
b. If the committee had only one contributor of at least $1,000 in the six months prior to the date of the payment for the independent expenditure communication, the statement may refer only to that contributor.
c. This statement is not required if the committee did not have any contributors of at least $1,000 in the six months prior to the date of the payment for the independent expenditure communication.
4. “Additional information is available at ethics.lacity.org.”
C. A person making an independent expenditure communication under Section 49.7.31 A.2.b. shall incorporate the following statements: (Amended by Ord. No. 183,414, Eff. 3/13/15.)
1. “Distributed by” immediately followed by the person’s name, address, and city. The address and city are not required in an audio communication.
2. “Not authorized by or coordinated with a City candidate or committee controlled by a candidate.” This statement is not required if the independent expenditure communication supports or opposes only a City ballot measure.
3. “Additional information is available at ethics.lacity.org.”
D. All disclaimers shall be presented in a clear and conspicuous manner to give the reader, observer, or listener adequate notice. Minimum requirements are specified below:
1. For written communications up to 24 inches by 36 inches, disclaimers shall be printed using a bold, sans serif typeface that is easily legible to an average reader and is not less than 14-point type in a color that contrasts with the background on which it appears. (Amended by Ord. No. 185,153, Eff. 10/15/17.)
2. For written communications larger than 24 inches by 36 inches, the total height of the disclaimer shall constitute at least five percent of the total height of the communication, be printed using a bold, sans serif typeface that is easily legible to an average reader, and be printed in a color that contrasts with the background on which it appears. (Amended by Ord. No. 185,153, Eff. 10/15/17.)
3. For video communications, the disclaimer shall be written in a bold, sans serif typeface that is easily legible to an average reader, in a color that contrasts with the background on which it appears, and shall appear for at least four seconds at either the beginning or the end of the communication. A spoken disclaimer is also required if the written disclaimer does not appear for at least five seconds of a communication that is 30 seconds or less or for at least ten seconds of a communication that is longer than 30 seconds. A spoken disclaimer shall be clearly audible and spoken at the same speed and volume as the rest of the communication. (Amended by Ord. No. 185,153, Eff. 10/15/17.)
4. For audio communications, disclaimers shall be spoken in a clearly audible manner at either the beginning or end of the communication. The disclaimers shall be spoken at the same speed and volume as the rest of the communication and shall last at least five seconds.
1. This does not apply to slate mailers, wearing apparel, small promotional items, such as pens, pencils, mugs, and potholders, and other items on which a disclaimer cannot be reasonably displayed in an easily legible typeface.
2. When the size limitations of an electronic communication render it impractical to include the full disclaimer, the disclaimer must state, at a minimum, “Paid for by” immediately followed by the committee identification number provided by the California Fair Political Practices Commission, or, if the person is not a committee, the person’s name. In addition, when a user interacts with the communication, the interaction must provide the user with the full disclaimer in a format that is easily legible and identifiable, such as through a rollover or pop-up on the landing page or a linked Web site or application.
F. A person shall amend political communications within five business days after any information in the disclaimer changes. A committee shall be deemed to have complied with this requirement if, within five business days, the amended communication is sent to all affected recipients with a request that the previous communication immediately be replaced. For written communications, disclaimers shall be amended to reflect accurate disclosure information every time the communication is reproduced.