Our attention typically focuses on state and federal franchise registration and disclosure laws, which broadly and stringently govern franchise sales activity and impose significant civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance.

There is, however, another body of substantive law governing franchising—this time, the post-sale franchise relationship itself. For obvious reasons, these laws are commonly referred to as "franchise relationship" statutes. The reach of these laws is broad, subsuming many licensing and distributorship relationships not normally considered franchises, and penalties for statutory noncompliance can be dramatic.