Serova v. Sony Music Entertainment
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In this dispute over whether Plaintiff's claims premised on the packaging and video of Michael, an album of music billed as Michael Jackson's first posthumous release, were subject to the album marketers' motion to strike under California's anti-SLAPP statute the Supreme Court held that Plaintiff sufficiently demonstrated that some of her claims had sufficient merit.
In her complaint against Sony Music Entertainment, Plaintiff asserted that Michael's marketers misled her and violated two California consumer protection laws, the unfair competition law, and the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, by misrepresenting a vocalist on certain tracks through the album's packaging and in a promotional video. The court of appeal granted Defendants' motion to strike under the anti-SLAPP statute, concluding that the First Amendment required classifying the disputed statements as noncommercial speech. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Plaintiff's claims related to Michael's packaging and promotional video had sufficient merit.
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