Last week (on April 8, 2020), the Supreme Court granted itself an extension of time to grant or deny review in Serova v. Sony Music Entertainment, No. S260736. Serova involves the interplay between the UCL (and the CLRA) and the anti-SLAPP statute (Code Civ. Proc. § 425.16). The action alleges that Sony Music (and related entities) marketed and sold an album by falsely attributing all ten songs on the album to Michael Jackson, when in fact, a cover singer performed three of the songs. The action seeks injunctive relief, restitution and damages on behalf of a proposed class of California purchasers of the album (or of any of the three mis-attributed songs).
This case has been to the Supreme Court once before. In 2018, the Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District, Division Two) reversed the trial court's order denying Sony's anti-SLAPP motion, holding that the attribution of the songs to Michael Jackson "did not simply promote sale of the album, but also stated a position on a disputed issue of public interest." Serova v. Sony Music Entertainment, 26 Cal.App.5th 759, 764 (2018).
The Supreme Court issued a "grant and hold" order in December 2018. In September 2019, the Court transferred the case back to the Court of Appeal with directions to reconsider the matter in view of FilmOn.com Inc. v. Double Verify Inc., 7 Cal.5th 133 (2019). Serova v. Sony Music Entertainment, No. S251822.
After the parties filed supplemental briefing, the Court of Appeal issued its new opinion on January 8, 2020. Serova v. Sony Music Entertainment, 44 Cal.App.5th 103 (2020). The new opinion essentially adopted the same analysis and came to the same conclusion as the earlier opinion.
A second petition for review was filed in February 2020. On the day after the Bay Area "shelter in place" orders went into effect, I submitted a letter in support of review on behalf of CAOC. (This is the case I mentioned in my post on March 19, 2020). The current deadline for the Supreme Court to grant or deny review is Monday, May 18, 2020. As a practical matter, that means the Court will act by no later than its conference scheduled for Wednesday, May 13, 2020.
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