§ 303. Level of advertising rates.

(a) General rule.--All official and legal advertising shall be charged for at an established or declared rate or price per single column, line of reading matter measured in depth by the point system, or at a rate or price per inch single column. When such official and legal advertising is not classified and is not published according to prescribed or recognized forms, and no rate has been established or declared, such rate for official and legal advertising shall not be in excess of the rates usually charged or received by the publication publishing such official and legal advertising for commercial, general, or other advertising.

(b) Exception.--Where official and legal advertising is usually and ordinarily published according to recognized or prescribed forms, or particular matters are itemized and classified under general headings, subsection (a) shall not prohibit the fixing of definite prices or sums for publishing official and legal advertising, regardless of the number of single column lines or space required for each item, notice, or advertisement published in any separate matter or proceeding, and regardless of rates established, fixed, charged or received for commercial, general or other advertising. The purpose of this subsection is to enable newspapers to take into consideration, as elements, when fixing advertising rates or charges, location of the advertisement in the newspaper, the purpose to be served, the character of the advertising, and that a newspaper is entitled to compensation for its readiness at all times to render an advertising service.