§  73.1212   Sponsorship identification; list retention; related requirements.

   (a) When a broadcast station transmits any matter for which money,
   service, or other valuable consideration is either directly or
   indirectly paid or promised to, or charged or accepted by such station,
   the station, at the time of the broadcast, shall announce:

   (1) That such matter is sponsored, paid for, or furnished, either in
   whole or in part, and

   (2) By whom or on whose behalf such consideration was supplied:
   Provided, however, That “service or other valuable consideration” shall
   not include any service or property furnished either without or at a
   nominal charge for use on, or in connection with, a broadcast unless it
   is so furnished in consideration for an identification of any person,
   product, service, trademark, or brand name beyond an identification
   reasonably related to the use of such service or property on the
   broadcast.

   (i) For the purposes of this section, the term “sponsored” shall be
   deemed to have the same meaning as “paid for.”

   (ii) In the case of any television political advertisement concerning
   candidates for public office, the sponsor shall be identified with
   letters equal to or greater than four percent of the vertical picture
   height that air for not less than four seconds.

   (b) The licensee of each broadcast station shall exercise reasonable
   diligence to obtain from its employees, and from other persons with
   whom it deals directly in connection with any matter for broadcast,
   information to enable such licensee to make the announcement required
   by this section.

   (c) In any case where a report has been made to a broadcast station as
   required by section 507 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended,
   of circumstances which would have required an announcement under this
   section had the consideration been received by such broadcast station,
   an appropriate announcement shall be made by such station.

   (d) In the case of any political broadcast matter or any broadcast
   matter involving the discussion of a controversial issue of public
   importance for which any film, record, transcription, talent, script,
   or other material or service of any kind is furnished, either directly
   or indirectly, to a station as an inducement for broadcasting such
   matter, an announcement shall be made both at the beginning and
   conclusion of such broadcast on which such material or service is used
   that such film, record, transcription, talent, script, or other
   material or service has been furnished to such station in connection
   with the transmission of such broadcast matter: Provided, however, That
   in the case of any broadcast of 5 minutes' duration or less, only one
   such announcement need be made either at the beginning or conclusion of
   the broadcast.

   (e) The announcement required by this section shall, in addition to
   stating the fact that the broadcast matter was sponsored, paid for or
   furnished, fully and fairly disclose the true identity of the person or
   persons, or corporation, committee, association or other unincorporated
   group, or other entity by whom or on whose behalf such payment is made
   or promised, or from whom or on whose behalf such services or other
   valuable consideration is received, or by whom the material or services
   referred to in paragraph (d) of this section are furnished. Where an
   agent or other person or entity contracts or otherwise makes
   arrangements with a station on behalf of another, and such fact is
   known or by the exercise of reasonable diligence, as specified in
   paragraph (b) of this section, could be known to the station, the
   announcement shall disclose the identity of the person or persons or
   entity on whose behalf such agent is acting instead of the name of such
   agent. Where the material broadcast is political matter or matter
   involving the discussion of a controversial issue of public importance
   and a corporation, committee, association or other unincorporated
   group, or other entity is paying for or furnishing the broadcast
   matter, the station shall, in addition to making the announcement
   required by this section, require that a list of the chief executive
   officers or members of the executive committee or of the board of
   directors of the corporation, committee, association or other
   unincorporated group, or other entity shall be made available for
   public inspection at the location specified under § 73.3526. If the
   broadcast is originated by a network, the list may, instead, be
   retained at the headquarters office of the network or at the location
   where the originating station maintains its public inspection file
   under § 73.3526. Such lists shall be kept and made available for a
   period of two years.

   (f) In the case of broadcast matter advertising commercial products or
   services, an announcement stating the sponsor's corporate or trade
   name, or the name of the sponsor's product, when it is clear that the
   mention of the name of the product constitutes a sponsorship
   identification, shall be deemed sufficient for the purpose of this
   section and only one such announcement need be made at any time during
   the course of the broadcast.

   (g) The announcement otherwise required by section 317 of the
   Communications Act of 1934, as amended, is waived with respect to the
   broadcast of “want ad” or classified advertisements sponsored by an
   individual. The waiver granted in this paragraph shall not extend to a
   classified advertisement or want ad sponsorship by any form of business
   enterprise, corporate or otherwise. Whenever sponsorship announcements
   are omitted pursuant to this paragraph, the licensee shall observe the
   following conditions:

   (1) Maintain a list showing the name, address, and (where available)
   the telephone number of each advertiser;

   (2) Make this list available to members of the public who have a
   legitimate interest in obtaining the information contained in the list.
   Such list must be retained for a period of two years after broadcast.

   (h) Any announcement required by section 317(b) of the Communications
   Act of 1934, as amended, is waived with respect to feature motion
   picture film produced initially and primarily for theatre exhibition.

   Note: The waiver heretofore granted by the Commission in its Report and
   Order adopted November 16, 1960 (FCC 60-1369; 40 F.C.C. 95), continues
   to apply to programs filmed or recorded on or before June 20, 1963,
   when § 73.654, the predecessor television rule, went into effect.

   (i) Commission interpretations in connection with the provisions of the
   sponsorship identification rules are contained in the Commission's
   Public Notice, entitled “Applicability of Sponsorship Identification
   Rules,” dated May 6, 1963 (40 F.C.C. 141), as modified by Public
   Notice, dated April 21, 1975 (FCC 75-418). Further interpretations are
   printed in full in various volumes of the Federal Communications
   Commission Reports.

   (j)(1)(i) Where the material broadcast consistent with paragraph (a) or
   (d) of this section has been aired pursuant to the lease of time on the
   station and has been provided by a foreign governmental entity, the
   station, at the time of the broadcast, shall include the following
   disclosure:

   The [following/preceding] programming was [sponsored, paid for, or
   furnished], either in whole or in part, by [name of foreign
   governmental entity] on behalf of [name of foreign country].

   (ii) If the material broadcast contains a “conspicuous statement”
   pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (FARA) (22
   U.S.C. 614(b)), such conspicuous statement will suffice for purposes of
   this paragraph (j)(1) if the conspicuous statement also contains a
   disclosure about the foreign country associated with the
   individual/entity that has sponsored, paid for, or furnished the
   material being broadcast.

   (2) The term “foreign governmental entity” shall include governments of
   foreign countries, foreign political parties, agents of foreign
   principals, and United States-based foreign media outlets.

   (i) The term “government of a foreign country” has the meaning given
   such term in the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C.
   611(e)).

   (ii) The term “foreign political party” has the meaning given such term
   in the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611(f)).

   (iii) The term “agent of a foreign principal” has the meaning given
   such term in the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C.
   611(c)), and who is registered as such with the Department of Justice,
   and whose “foreign principal” is a “government of a foreign country,” a
   “foreign political party,” or directly or indirectly operated,
   supervised, directed, owned, controlled, financed, or subsidized by a
   “government of a foreign country” or a “foreign political party” as
   defined in paragraphs (j)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section, and that is
   acting in its capacity as an agent of such “foreign principal”.

   (iv) The term “United States-based foreign media outlet” has the
   meaning given such term in section 722(a) of the Communications Act of
   1934 (47 U.S.C. 624(a)).

   (3) The licensee of each broadcast station shall exercise reasonable
   diligence to ascertain whether the foreign sponsorship disclosure
   requirements in paragraph (j)(1) of this section apply at the time of
   the lease agreement and at any renewal thereof, including:

   (i) Informing the lessee of the foreign sponsorship disclosure
   requirement in paragraph (j)(1) of this section;

   (ii) Inquiring of the lessee whether the lessee falls into any of the
   categories in paragraph (j)(2) of this section that qualify the lessee
   as a foreign governmental entity;

   (iii) Inquiring of the lessee whether the lessee knows if anyone
   involved in the production or distribution of the programming that will
   be aired pursuant to the lease agreement, or a sub-lease, qualifies as
   a foreign governmental entity and has provided some type of inducement
   to air the programming;

   (iv) Independently confirming the lessee's status, by consulting the
   Department of Justice's FARA website and the Commission's semi-annual
   U.S.-based foreign media outlets reports, if the lessee states that it
   does not fall within the definition of “foreign governmental entity”
   and that there is no separate need for a disclosure because no one
   further back in the chain of producing/transmitting the programming
   falls within the definition of “foreign governmental entity” and has
   provided an inducement to air the programming; and

   (v) Memorializing the inquiries in paragraphs (j)(3)(i) through (iv) of
   this section to track compliance therewith and retaining such
   documentation in the licensee's records for either the remainder of the
   then-current license term or one year, whichever is longer, so as to
   respond to any future Commission inquiry.

   (4) In the case of any video programming, the foreign governmental
   entity and the country represented shall be identified with letters
   equal to or greater than four percent of the vertical picture height
   that air for not less than four seconds.

   (5) At a minimum, the announcement required by paragraph (j)(1) of this
   section shall be made at both the beginning and conclusion of the
   programming. For programming of greater than sixty minutes in duration,
   an announcement shall be made at regular intervals during the
   broadcast, but no less frequently than once every sixty minutes.

   (6) Where the primary language of the programming is other than
   English, the disclosure statement shall be made in the primary language
   of the programming. If the programming contains a “conspicuous
   statement” pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22
   U.S.C. 614(b)), and such conspicuous statement is in a language other
   than English so as to conform to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of
   1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), an additional disclosure in English is
   not needed.

   (7) A station shall place copies of the disclosures required by this
   paragraph (j) and the name of the program to which the disclosures were
   appended in its online public inspection file on a quarterly basis in a
   standalone folder marked as “Foreign Government-Provided Programming
   Disclosures.” The filing must state the date and time the program
   aired. In the case of repeat airings of the program, those additional
   dates and times should also be included. Where an aural announcement
   was made, its contents must be reduced to writing and placed in the
   online public inspection file in the same manner.

   (k) The requirements in paragraph (j) of this section shall apply to
   programs permitted to be delivered to foreign broadcast stations under
   an authorization pursuant to the section 325(c) of the Communications
   Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(c)) if any part of the material has been
   sponsored, paid for, or furnished for free as an inducement to air on
   the foreign station by a foreign governmental entity. A section 325(c)
   permit holder shall place copies of the disclosures required along with
   the name of the program to which the disclosures were appended in the
   International Bureau's public filing System (IBFS) under the relevant
   IBFS section 325(c) permit file. The filing must state the date and
   time the program aired. In the case of repeat airings of the program,
   those additional dates and times should also be included. Where an
   aural announcement was made, its contents must be reduced to writing
   and placed in the IBFS in the same manner.

   (l) Paragraphs (j) and (k) of this section contain
   information-collection and recordkeeping requirements. Compliance with
   paragraphs (j) and (k) of this section shall not be required until
   after review by the Office of Management and Budget. The Commission
   will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing compliance
   dates and removing this paragraph (l) accordingly.

   [ 40 FR 18400 , Apr. 28, 1975, as amended at  46 FR 13907 , Feb. 24, 1981;
    49 FR 4211 , Feb. 3, 1984;  49 FR 33663 , Aug. 24, 1984;  50 FR 32417 , Aug.
   12, 1985;  57 FR 8279 , Mar. 9, 1992;  77 FR 27655 , May 11, 2012;  86 FR 32238 , June 17, 2021]