Pen. Code, § 538c · Chapter 8. False Personation and Cheats
Pen. Code, § 538c
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), any person who attaches or inserts an unauthorized advertisement in a newspaper, whether alone or in concert with another, and who redistributes it to the public or who has the intent to redistribute it to the public, is guilty of the crime of theft of advertising services which shall be punishable as a misdemeanor.
(b) As used in this section:
(1) “Unauthorized advertisement” means any form of representation or communication, including any handbill, newsletter, pamphlet, or notice that contains any letters, words, or pictorial representation that is attached to or inserted in a newspaper without a contractual agreement between the publisher and an advertiser.
(2) “Newspaper” includes any newspaper, magazine, periodical, or other tangible publication, whether offered for retail sale or distributed without charge.
(c) This section does not apply if the publisher or authorized distributor of the newspaper consents to the attachment or insertion of the advertisement.
(d) This section does not apply to a newspaper distributor who is directed to insert an unauthorized advertisement by a person or company supplying the newspapers, and who is not aware that the advertisement is unauthorized.
(e) A conviction under this section shall not constitute a conviction for petty theft.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 1134, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2003.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=538c.
- Text hash
- sha256 d3d2eb1d9a5e7b2fe9e933de060ca9d3777b38d23f4ff2a8f8eb6b6936f8a079
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Cited by 1 provision
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