Federal Election Commission Main Page
January 6, 1984
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
ADVISORY OPINION 1983-44
Brad Smith
Cass Communications, Inc.
1633 Central Street
Evanston, Illinois 60201
Dear Mr. Smith:
This responds to your letter of November 30, 1983,
requesting an advisory opinion concerning the application of the
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended ("the Act"), to
the use by Cass Communications, Inc. ("Cass") of certain
information contained in reports filed with the Commission.
You state in your letter that Cass represents college
newspapers to national advertisers in order that advertisers may
reach the college market more effectively. A sample sales letter
which you enclosed states that Cass offers demographic profiles
of colleges in the United States, a directory of college
newspapers and a cost analysis of the placement of advertisements
in each, and information on the media habits and purchasing
patterns of college students. You state further that Cass
intends to solicit candidates as potential clients and,
specifically, you ask whether Cass may use information from FEC
records in order to do so.
Under the Act, inspection and copying of reports and
statements filed with the Commission generally are permitted, but
the sale or use of such copied information to solicit
contributions or for commercial purposes, other than using the
name and address of any political committee to solicit
contributions from such committee, is prohibited. 2 U.S.C.
SS 438(a)(4). Commission regulations, specifically SS 104.15(a)
which elaborates on SS 438(a)(4), state:
[A]ny information copied or otherwise
obtained, from any report or statement,
or any copy, reproduction, or publication
thereof, filed with the Commission. . . shall
not be sold or used by any person for the
purpose of soliciting contributions or for
any commercial purpose, except that the name
and address of any political committee may be
used to solicit contributions from such committee.
In a number of advisory opinions the Commission has relied
on the legislative history of 2 U.S.C. SS 438(a)(4), construing
that the purpose of the restriction on use of information
specifically is to protect contributor information and lists from
being used for commercial purposes. See Advisory Opinions 1981-38,
1980-101, 1980-78 and 1977-66, copies enclosed. Moreover,
the Commission previously has concluded, based on a similar
factual situation presented in Advisory Opinion 1981-38, that
names and addresses of candidates found in FEC records may be
used for commercial purposes. In this opinion, a publisher was
permitted to use information contained in candidate filings with
the FEC, excluding the names and addresses of individual
contributors, to provide leads for news articles and other
information for use in a newsletter and to solicit subscriptions.
The proponents of 2 U.S.C. SS 438(a)(4) focused on protecting
the privacy of the "very public spirited citizens" who make
contributions to campaigns. Thus, the purpose of this section
was to protect contributor information and lists from being used
for commercial purposes. 117 Conq. Rec. 30058 (1971) (remarks of
Senator Bellmon, amendment sponsor). Subsequent legislative
history further reinforces this view. Specifically, the history
of the 1979 Amendments to the Act indicates that a commercial
vendor may compile information from FEC reports for the purpose
of selling that information, but that the prohibition on copying
and use of names and addresses of individual contributors is
crucial and so was maintained. H.R. Rep. No. 422, 96th. Cong,
1st Sess. 23 (1979). The purpose of 2 U.S.C. SS 438(a)(4) is the
prevention of list brokering, not the suppression of financial
information. See Advisory Opinions 1980-78 and 1981-38.
Cass proposes to use the names and addresses of candidates
derived from FEC records to solicit candidates as clients and not
any information relating to individual contributors. The use of
such candidate information would not be prohibited by 2 U.S.C.
SS 438(a)(4).
This response constitutes an advisory opinion concerning
application of the Act, or regulations prescribed by the
Commission, to the specific transaction or activities set forth
in your request. See 2 U.S.C. 437f.