Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/89494
MANAGEMENT UNCORKING PR ment is valuable and free and also not legal. "I recently perused the website of a great new winery. It has an image on the front page of a restau- rant and a caption giving the name of the establishment and stating that its wines are poured there. While it is important to give credit where credit is due, this winery is encouraging its consumers to go to that particular restaurant over oth- ers – a violation of law. How can this issue be avoided? "In California, it is permissible to respond to a direct inquiry from a consumer and provide a list of retailers, as long as at least two, independent ones are listed. But not all states allow wineries to give information about where their product can be purchased. Some states will not even let you give this information to a customer who asks for it. Other states (Alabama is an example) allows a winery to list retailers on its website so long as every single establishment that carries the product is listed. This could be quite a challenge, as you will need to stay on top of product inventory at each establishment and update frequently. Because every state is different, it is impor- tant to learn what each state will allow before providing any retailer information in that state. CONTESTS AND SWEEPSTAKES "I recently saw a contest on Facebook in which you could win tickets to a popular music festi- val taking place in San Francisco. SHORT COURSE Know the laws. Ignorance is no excuse. Do not assume that what other companies do is legal or appli- cable to wine. The Internet may be fast and easy for promotions, yet alcohol regu- lations apply. When in doubt, get expert legal advice. WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM It seemed like this contest was open to anyone over the age of 21, regardless of where they live. And it could be a problem. Every state has its own rules about whether contests and sweepstakes are allowed, what is required, what may be offered, and how they can be conducted. In this example, it was unclear how the winner would be chosen: would it be a random drawing, and thus a sweepstake, or would it be picked based on the "best" answer, and thus a contest involving a skill? "In California, sweepstakes and contests are allowed in limited cir- cumstances. A prize in a sweep- stakes sponsored by a winery is limited to a $1 value. Situations in which a winery can sponsor a contest comes with a whole set of rules, far too complicated to address in this column. Yet a week- end music festival in San Francisco is surely worth more than $1! "Again, before sponsoring a con- test or sweepstakes, check with the states in which you wish to offer the contest or sweepstakes. They all have different regulations and some require approval from the state's alcohol beverage con- trol agency. And because a website and Facebook page are viewed by people in all 50 states, it is a good idea to specify in which state(s) the contest or sweepstakes is occur- ring and who may enter. PHOTOGRAPHS AND IMAGES "You just had a successful event and want to post some photos to share with your customers how great it was. While this is not some- thing I would be able to tell just from looking at images on a web- site, it is crucial to get the appro- priate releases from the subjects before making photographs public. This includes copyright, if appropri- ate, and rights of publicity. "You should have permission from both the person who took the photograph and the person(s) in the photograph. Individuals have a right to privacy and part of that right is not having images of them made public for the commercial benefit of NOV - DEC 2012 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 17