Part 3: Touting, Advertising and Trading Offences Section 13: Advertising offence
Section 13 makes it an offence to advertise (or to arrange or permit advertising) in, or in the vicinity of, a specified Games location during a specified period (the "advertising offence"). A person guilty of the offence is liable to an unlimited fine.
	This offence is introduced to ensure that Games locations and the areas around them provide a welcoming atmosphere for spectators and have a consistent celebratory look and feel in line with Commonwealth Games branding. This is intended to prevent activity where an advertiser ‘ambushes’ an event to compete for exposure (both at live events and via broadcast) against other advertisers who may be official sponsors of the Games. This in turn will help safeguard public investment in the Games by ensuring the rights of commercial sponsors can be robustly protected.
	Subsection (1) establishes that in addition to it being an offence to carry out Games location advertising it is also an offence to permit Games location advertising (for example on private land) or to arrange for someone else to carry out Games location advertising that would be an offence. Subsection (5) makes further provision about permitting.
	Subsection (2) defines ‘Games location advertising’ as meaning when someone does something in, or in the vicinity of, a specified Games location during a specified period and where the thing is done wholly or partly for the purpose of promoting a product, service or business to members of the public who are in, or in the vicinity of, a Games location or are watching or listening to a Games event via a broadcast. Whilst there is a definition of what constitutes a "Games location" in section 24(1), the specific locations to which the offence will apply will be stipulated in the regulations. A ‘specified period’ is also to be set out in regulations, subject to the limitation in subsection (3) on specified period. The definition of advertising as being ‘something done wholly or partly for the purposes of promoting a product, service or business’ means that activities such as promoting a cause or belief would not be prohibited (unless they also promoted a product, service or business).
	Subsection (4) provides a power for the Secretary of State to make regulations about when a person will be treated, or not, as doing something, or as being, in or in the vicinity of a Games location.
	Subsection (5) establishes that a person does not ‘permit’ Games location advertising if that person took all reasonable steps to prevent the advertising from taking place or continuing to take place. This means that if the offence took place on a person’s land, and the landowner took appropriate action to try to prevent the offence, they would not be considered to be ‘permitting’ advertising for the purposes of the offence.
	Subsection (6) provides that it is not a defence that the advertising was carried out in accordance with a licence (see the interpretation of ‘licence’ at section 24) (for example, from a local authority or private land owner), other than an authorisation granted by the Organising Committee (as set out at section 14).
	Subsection (7) provides a penalty for the offence, namely that anyone found guilty of this offence is liable to an unlimited fine.
	Subsection (8) makes clear that no offence is committed if advertising has been authorised by the Organising Committee under section 14 or is otherwise excepted by section 15 or any regulations made under section 15.