PRSA, along with the PR Council and the Arthur W. Page Society, filed separate third-party affidavits with the New York State court to stay the enforcement of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) Advisory Opinion No. 16-01 that seeks to classify some public relations activities as lobbying. Four public relations agencies have filed a lawsuit regarding the same advisory.

Because this issue is so important to the communication industry, stated PRSA, “our three trade associations have joined forces to help explain to the court the broad-reaching impact and perhaps unintended consequences that may affect all of our members. Our three groups have unique perspectives to provide to the court to explain our concerns about compliance and infringement on information exchange with the press.”

To learn more about this subject, you can read PRSA’s full statement regarding the affidavit and earlier statement on the impact of this advisory opinion.