Peter J. Caruso II
Partner
Peter J. Caruso II leads the firm’s Advertising and Promotions industry group. He specializes in the representation of traditional and online media entities, advertising agencies, and marketing organizations in development, structure, compliance, production, and advertising and promotional package execution. Peter skillfully balances the client’s creative vision with his depth of knowledge and expertise in the area of regulatory oversight.
Peter’s practice includes assisting clients in ensuring compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations, industry regulations, and voluntary industry self-regulatory provisions. His background includes experience with the FTC’s negative option plans and endorsements regulations, the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, the FTC’s “do not call” provisions, the use of the word “free,” rules and regulations governing competitive claims and substantiation requirements, and CAN-SPAM.
His practice also includes the development and review of rules, terms of use, and sweepstakes and contest disclosures, eligibility, liability, and publicity releases in all forms of media. Peter also reviews sweepstakes and contests for compliance with federal and state laws and industry regulations, including the Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1999 and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
In addition, Peter has assisted in the implementation of new technology promotions through the use of mobile marketing, email, user-generated content promotions, behavioral marketing campaigns, data aggregation, Web-based marketing promotions, and telecommunications.
Peter also actively represents artists, art organizations, museums, and galleries. His services include the protection of trademark, copyright and intellectual property rights, First Amendment issues, accession, deaccession, stolen art, privacy issues, art import and export, provenance, privacy, and business and corporate matters.
Peter represents the interests of both local and national newspapers, magazines, publishers, broadcasters, bloggers, and website operators. He has counseled artists and media publications in the areas of copyright, trademark, and fair use, conducted prepublication and prebroadcast reviews for newspapers and radio stations, and defended artists, galleries, museums, media outlets, and individuals in defamation cases.
Peter is one of the drafters of the Massachusetts Art Consignment Statute (MGL 104A), which was enacted to afford additional protection to consignors of fine art. He is a lecturer in the Boston University Arts Administration Master’s Program, teaching “Legal Aspects of Arts Administration” to master’s candidates. Peter is an active panel attorney with the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts, handling pro bono and reduced-fee art law cases, and also serves as a primary lecturer in the VLA Artist’s Toolbox program.
After a consignment shop closed its doors, his work in securing the release of more than a thousand pieces of art from federal bankruptcy through the prosecution of claims under the Massachusetts art consignment statute earned him the VLA’s annual “Robert B. Fraser” award as a pro bono counsel of the year in 2004.
Peter founded and is the principal contributor to the firm's first museum law-related blog. The blog is a resource for curators, directors, trustees, donors, archivists, and museum patrons to inform them of current trends in museum law.
After law school, Peter served as an associate and then managing partner of Caruso & Caruso, LLP in Andover, MA.
Bar Admissions- United States Supreme Court
- United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
Education- Suffolk University Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1996
- Colby College, B.A., cum laude, 1993
Noteworthy- 2010 - 2011: Named a "Rising Star" by "Massachusetts Super Lawyers" in the area of First Amendment/Media/Advertising
- Co-Chair, Boston Bar Association's Arts, Entertainment, and Sports Law Committee
Memberships- Boston Ad Club
- Direct Marketing Association (DMA)
- Essex Bar Association
- Massachusetts Bar Association
- Massachusetts Biotechnology Council
- Promotion Marketing Association (PMA)
Professional Activities- Adjunct Professor, Boston University (Arts Administration) 2007-Present
- Former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Essex Art Center
- Panel Attorney for the Boston Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Seminars & Speeches- “Piecing Together the Interlocking and Overlapping Regulatory Regimes for Corporate Use of Social Media: Who Regulates What? What are the Enforcement Priorities?” speaker, Law Seminars International, March 2011
- “Copyright, Privacy & Defamation in Cyberspace,” faculty, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, February 2011
- “Protecting Your Newspaper in the Digital Age,” panelist, Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association Annual Meeting, December 2009
- “Entertainment Law Practice in the Digital Age: New Developments,” panelist, Boston Bar Association Symposium, December 2009
- “Data Retention and Security,” presenter, 28th Annual ASA Advanced Business Valuation Conference, October 2009
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