From the Legal Hotline (1-877-NEWS-LAW)
Q. We are exploring alternative forms of revenue from drawings which are not illegal lotteries such as hosting Bingo and would like to know what the requirements are for us to be able to do it. I am aware that Bingo halls need a non-profit to host games. To that end, we’ve been working with the Florida Press Foundation to be the recipient of donations sent to us so businesses and individuals can receive the tax benefit of donating to a non-profit. Would we be able to use them as the non-profit in order to host Bingo? We plan to do it 3 nights during our month-long fund drive to get financial support from readers, businesses, and the community. Thanks in advance. Your information is always insightful.
A. You are correct–Bingo games can only be legally operated in Florida by a “charitable, non-profit, or veterans’ organization engaged in charitable, civic, community, benevolent, religious, or scholastic works or other similar endeavors” and those organizations must have been in existence for three years or more. Also, all proceeds after business expenses must be donated to the endeavors listed above. The fairly detailed law, section 849.0931, F.S., states what is authorized, conditions for conduct, permitted uses of proceeds, and other limitations.
Regarding using the Foundation as a nonprofit to host bingo games, I think it is focused on donations to its community news fund so this may be outside its wheelhouse.
Q. I was talking with a law firm about my fictitious name ad rate. They claim I can only charge 70 cents per square inch. Can you explain? Thank you!
A. We have always taken the position that the old 70 cents per inch rate is trumped by para. (3) of s. 50.061, F.S., which says that “where the regular established minimum commercial rate per square inch of the newspaper publishing such official public notices or legal advertisements is in excess of the rate herein stipulated, said minimum commercial rate per square inch may be charged.” In other words, if your “minimum commercial rate per square inch” (usually the lowest rate on your rate card) is “in excess of” (above) the per inch rates, then it should apply.
Q. We got a new directive from Publix requiring us to carry additional worker’s comp on our delivery staff (ours are not employees), commercial general liability of not less than $3 million; evidence of a separate property policy covering commercial, etc. liability up to $1 million naming Publix as additional insured.
This is going to be costly for us. What do you recommend? I am thinking that we can’t afford to continue selling our newspapers at Publix, but they are very popular there.
A. Checking around, it does appear that Publix is now asking for this from other members. Apparently, they are transitioning single copy sales to Nexxus and Nexxus requires this. This requirement will increase insurance premiums and will definitely hurt small independent papers. However, it’s a popular spot for newspaper sales and you will have to weigh the additional expense versus your annual sales and the possible opportunity to add more Publix stores to your distribution. We are not aware of other large retailers requiring this such as Walmart and Winn-Dixie.
Q. We received a letter from copyright enforcement law firm Higbee & Associates regarding an image allegedly used on our website. We had received correspondence from PicRights in the past and I responded, letting them know the image is not there. I’ve checked and the image is not in our media library, nor on the post. I checked the internet archive’s Wayback Machine to see if they had a record of it. They have the article but no image. It is possible that at the time the image was in place in the past but was later removed from the article. We’ve had an incident in the past where someone sourced a photo from where they shouldn’t have. If we decide to respond, I would appreciate your guidance in the language to use. Ideally, I’d like to counter-offer for something more like $200. The associate story has received fewer than 200 views online so even if the photo was there for the entire life of the story, which it wasn’t (if it was there at all), it would mean they would receive more than a $1 per view. The amount of revenue which that web story generated for us would be tenths or hundredths of a penny. So, we were certainly not profiting off of their photo. Thank you for your time.
A. You are correct to do your due diligence by looking into whether the image was published at some point on your website and, if it was, whether you have any license or subscription to use it. If you don’t, I can certainly give you some language that might help you respond with a counteroffer to settle.
Q. Do I need a separate periodical permit for each county I publish in? I have a Seminole County USPS periodical permit, but was always told I didn’t need another one for surrounding counties. The statues says you are entered or qualified to be admitted and entered as a periodical class mail at a post office in the county where published. This is very ambiguous as I do publish on Seminole County, and I am qualified to be admitted into a neighboring county which is where I am being challenged. This has always been a grey area that no one seems to understand.
A. I didn’t see any AG opinions on the issue so that leaves us with just the wording of the statute.
Section 50.011, F.S., states that if the law requires a legal ad in a newspaper, the newspaper must be “a publication which is entered or qualified to be admitted and entered as periodical class mail at a post office in the county where published.”
In this case, you have a periodicals permit from the Seminole County post office but not from any PO in surrounding counties. I think you can argue that this is sufficient to allow you to run legals not just in Seminole County, but in other surrounding counties where you also publish. The reason is, as you state, you have a permit in “the county where published.” The statute does not state you need a separate permit for each of the counties where you publish. In other words, I think you could argue that the permit goes with/attaches to the paper and is sufficient for wherever the legal notice is posted.
Q. A couple questions if you can prompt my memory on the following… 1) A city councilman was arrested for DUI. Can I run a copy of the arrest report redacting his personal info? It clearly describes the field sobriety tests/responses to questions, etc.; 2) Would you have an updated independent contractors/freelancers agreements? I think the ones I have are quite old and lengthy.
A. Yes, as to 1)—it’s a public record that I assume the police provided to the paper. As to 2), we have sample IC agreements relating to photographers, advertising copy writers, and general writers (pdf). Finally, here is a link to another freelance writer agreement I found online—https://www.politico.com/pdf/PPM169_old_freelance_agreement.pdf