Unveiling Advertising Injury: Understanding Its Impact And Insurance Coverage

Advertising injury is a type of personal injury insurance that protects businesses from claims of offenses committed in the course of advertising its goods, products, or services. It is typically covered by a general liability policy under Coverage B, Personal and Advertising Injury Liability Coverage. Advertising injuries are acts that harm individuals or other businesses and include slander, libel, copyright infringement, and invasion of privacy. For example, if a business publishes an advertisement that disparages another company, damaging its reputation, the injured party may sue for compensatory damages. In this case, the business would likely be covered under its general liability policy.

Libel, slander, and copyright infringement

Libel and Slander

Libel and slander are types of defamation, which is a civil wrong or a criminal offence, or both. Libel is written defamation, while slander is spoken defamation.

Libel and slander are considered more harmful to a person's reputation if they involve a public or private individual's health, business, criminal propensity, or sexual misconduct. Libel and slander are also considered more harmful if they accuse someone of a crime, allege that someone has a loathsome disease, adversely reflect on a person's ability to work, or impute serious sexual misconduct.

Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement occurs when an original, creative work is copied, distributed, performed, displayed, or made into a derivative work without the owner's permission. Copyright infringement can take the form of uploading photos to the internet, stealing licensed software, plagiarising written text, or using parts of a song without attribution.

Invasion of privacy

Advertising injury is a type of personal injury insurance that protects the policyholder against claims of invasion of privacy, among other things. Invasion of privacy refers to the unjustifiable intrusion into the personal life or private affairs of another person or business without their consent. This can include:

• Intrusion of Solitude: This involves someone intruding into an individual's private space, such as their home, or eavesdropping on private conversations. For example, using a long-range camera to take photos of someone inside their home or eavesdropping on private phone calls.
• Appropriation of Name or Likeness: This occurs when an individual or company uses the name, likeness, or other personal attributes of another person or business for their benefit without their permission. For example, using a celebrity's name or likeness in an advertisement.
• Public Disclosure of Private Facts: This involves revealing private or confidential information about an individual or business in a public forum, such as on social media or in a magazine. For example, disclosing embarrassing information about a person's past without their consent.

In the context of advertising injury, invasion of privacy can include using someone's name, likeness, or other personal attributes in an advertisement without their permission, or disclosing private or confidential information about them in an advertisement. For example, a business using a customer's photo in an advertisement without their consent, or a competitor revealing confidential information about another company's products or services in their ads.

False advertising

To bring a claim for false advertising, the plaintiff must show that the defendant made false or misleading statements about their products or services, that actual deception occurred or there was a tendency to deceive a substantial portion of the intended audience, that the deception is likely to influence purchasing decisions, that the advertised goods travel in interstate commerce, and that there was a likelihood of injury to the plaintiff.

It is important to note that puffery or claims that a person could not reasonably rely upon are not grounds for a false advertising claim. Additionally, advertising injury coverage typically does not extend to false advertising claims when a business knowingly engages in deceptive practices.

Personal injury

• Libel (written defamation)
• Slander (spoken defamation)
• Infringing on a copyright or other intellectual property
• False arrest, detention, or imprisonment
• Wrongful eviction or entry
• Malicious prosecution

Advertising injury, on the other hand, refers to acts that harm individuals or businesses in the context of advertising. It is typically covered by general liability policies under Coverage B, Personal and Advertising Injury Liability Coverage. Examples of advertising injury include:

• Slander or libel of a person or company
• Violation of a person's right to privacy
• Use of another company's advertising themes or concepts without permission
• Infringement of a person or firm's copyright or slogans

It's important to note that personal and advertising injury coverage does not include intentional acts of harm. Additionally, advertising injury coverage does not typically protect against false advertising claims.

General liability insurance

Advertising injury is a component of commercial general liability insurance that protects the policyholder from claims of copyright infringement, libel, slander, invasion of privacy, and stolen ideas, among other things. It is a type of personal injury insurance, protecting a business from claims of offenses committed in the course of advertising its goods, products, or services.

For example, if a business publishes an ad that disparages another company, damaging its reputation, the injured party may sue for compensatory damages. In this case, the business would likely be covered under its general liability policy. Most policies include Coverage B, or Personal and Advertising Injury Liability Coverage.

Frequently asked questions