Judge Alsup issued a further order on Class Counsel’s status report on changes to the class notice.
One of the biggest concern’s of Judge Alsup that he recently flagged is that 18,000 class members already elected to receive the class distribution of $3,100 per work before the direct class notice has been sent to class members. “In particular, it appears that those claimants were never advised that they had the right to opt out of the lawsuit. In this regard, the claim form itself makes no mention of the right to opt out, nor does it provide a direct link to a document that would clearly advise them of their right to opt out.“
And even with the direct notice still be to approved and sent, Judge Alsup concludes: “In reviewing the proposed email notice to be sent to class members in particular, the district judge sees that it does not give equal dignity to the option of filing a claim versus the option of opting out, and in fact steers class members toward filing a claim even before mentioning there still is an opportunity to opt out.”
“In reviewing the proposed email notice to be sent to class members in particular, the district judge sees that it does not give equal dignity to the option of filing a claim versus the option of opting out, and in fact steers class members toward filing a claim even before mentioning there still is an opportunity to opt out.”
Judge Alsup
The Judge said he will issue another order addressing this concern.
On a secondary issue, the Judge ruled that the real names of authors who use pen names will be disclosed on the Works List unless the work was registered in the Copyright Office under the pen name alone. The Judge has instructed a FAQ 55, which states in part: “So, if your work was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office such that only your pseudonym (and NOT your real name) is revealed publicly on the U.S. copyright registration, then the Court will allow the Works List Lookup to be amended such that only your pseudonym (and NOT your real name) is revealed there, too. Otherwise, real names will remain publicly displayed on the Works List Lookup.”
Judge Alsup also briefly mentions the controversy over ClaimsHero at the end:
“3. OUTSIDE LAW FIRMS.
The district court has become aware that at least one third-party law firm has been encouraging class members to opt out of the settlement and suggesting that the law firm can get a class member a better result than the class wide settlement. Of course every class member has the right to opt out, but the district judge urges any class member tempted by such an encouragement or advertisement to first study the class notice and the reasons for the settlement and to study the track record of any such law firm when it comes to actual litigation in any state or federal court.”
Related Stories