Commonwealth Ex Rel. Fisher v. Philip Morris, Inc.

*752OPINION BY

Judge PELLEGRINI.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (Reynolds) appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas for Philadelphia County (trial court) finding it violated the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement and was in contempt of court for violation of the Consent Decree because it used cartoons in the promotion and advertising of its tobacco products. Because the trial court erred in determining Reynolds was liable for a third-party’s use of cartoons in an independently produced editorial and that Reynolds’ own advertisements included cartoons, we reverse.

In 1997, the Commonwealth…