(a) No manufacturer, winegrower, manufacturer’s agent, rectifier, California winegrower’s agent, distiller, bottler, importer, or wholesaler, or any officer, director, or agent of any such person shall:
(1) Hold the ownership, directly or indirectly, of any interest in any on-sale license.
(2) Furnish, give, or lend any money or other thing of value, directly or indirectly, to, or guarantee the repayment of any loan or the fulfillment of any financial obligation of, any person engaged in operating, owning, or maintaining any on-sale premises where alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises.
(3) Own any interest, directly or indirectly, in the business, furniture, fixtures, refrigeration equipment, signs, except signs for interior use mentioned in subdivision (g) of Section 25503, or lease in or of any premises operated or maintained under any on-sale license for the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises where sold; or own any interest, directly or indirectly, in realty acquired after June 13, 1935, upon which on-sale premises are maintained unless the holding of the interest is permitted in accordance with rules of the department.
(b) This section does not apply to the holding by one person of a wholesaler’s license and an on-sale license in counties not to exceed 15,000 population.
(c) This section does not apply to the financial or representative relationship between a manufacturer, winegrower, manufacturer’s agent, rectifier, California winegrower’s agent, distiller, bottler, importer, or wholesaler, or any officer, director, or agent of such person, and a person holding only one of the following types of licenses:
(1) On-sale general license for a bona fide club.
(2) Club license issued under Article 4 (commencing with Section 23425) of Chapter 3.
(3) Veterans’ club license issued under Article 5 (commencing with Section 23450) of Chapter 3.
(4) On-sale license for boats, trains, sleeping cars, or airplanes where the alcoholic beverages produced or sold by the manufacturer, winegrower, manufacturer’s agent, rectifier, California winegrower’s agent, bottler, importer, or wholesaler or any officer, director, or agent of the person are not sold, furnished, or given, directly or indirectly to the on-sale licensee.
(d) This section does not apply to an employee of a licensee referred to in subdivision (a) who is a nonadministrative and nonsupervisorial employee.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division or regulation of the department, this section does not apply to an employee of a licensee referred to in subdivision (a) who is the spouse of an on-sale licensee, so long as the on-sale licensee does not purchase, offer for sale, or promote, regardless of source, any of the brands of alcoholic beverages that are produced, bottled, processed, imported, rectified, distributed, represented, or sold by any licensee referred to in subdivision (a) that employs the spouse of the on-sale licensee.
(f) (1) Nothing in this division prohibits the holder of any retail on-sale or off-sale license from purchasing advertising in any publication published by a nonretail licensee.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision:
(A) “Nonretail licensee” means any manufacturer, winegrower, manufacturer’s agent, rectifier, California winegrower’s agent, distiller, bottler, importer, or wholesaler, or any person who does not directly or indirectly hold the ownership of any interest in a retail license.
(B) “Publication published by a nonretail licensee” includes Internet Web sites and social media feeds operated and maintained by or for a nonretail licensee under an account or Internet Web site address owned by the nonretail licensee.
(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 519, Sec. 4. (AB 776) Effective January 1, 2016.)