Sony Class Action Over Missing Michael Jackson Songs Continues

A California federal judge has rejected Sony Music Entertainment’s bid to dismiss consumer protection claims from a class action lawsuit accusing the company of duping consumers into buying albums containing Michael Jackson songs performed by other vocalists.

The Sony class action lawsuit was initially filed in June 2014 by plaintiff Vera Serova. She claims she was tricked into purchasing a posthumously-released album that featured songs that were not sung by Michael Jackson, contrary to the entertainment company’s representations.

According to the class action lawsuit, the album (titled “Michael”) featured a certification on its cover indicating that all of the songs on the album were sung by Michael Jackson.

After listening to the album, Serova reportedly hired an audio expert to analyze the songs. The expert allegedly concluded that several of the songs were sung by a Michael Jackson impersonator.

The Sony class action lawsuit asserts claims for violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law, Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and fraud.

Serova seeks to represent a Class of consumers who purchased the “Michael” album in reliance on Sony’s representations that all of the songs on the album were sung by Michael Jackson.

Los Angeles District Judge Ann I. Jones denied Sony’s bid to toss the consumer protection claims, finding that the defendant’s dismissal bid was procedurally improper.

She refused to issue a formal ruling on motions to strike the Michael Jackson album class action lawsuit under California’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) laws, which are laws designed to protect free speech in the state.

The motion to strike the Sony class action lawsuit under California’s anti-SLAPP laws was filed by Sony, Angelikson Productions LLC and Michael Jackson’s estate.

The parties had reportedly asked Judge Jones to decide whether the UCL and CLRA claims failed because the alleged misrepresentations did not constitute “commercial speech.” The judge refused to make such a determination in an anti-SLAPP motion.

“At the end of the day … I’m not in a position substantively to resolve the issues that you’ve presented,” she told the parties. “I get the desire to get to the end first, but I don’t think we can. … I tried very hard to push this into a SLAPP analysis, and it doesn’t fit.”

Further, Judge Jones said that the statements at issue in the Michael Jackson album class action lawsuit could possibly be interpreted as being misleading to a reasonable consumer, and so she would have rejected the anti-SLAPP motion anyway.

She denied the defendants’ request to file a revised anti-SLAPP motion. Jones also ordered the parties to begin discovery and start preparing for a Class certification hearing.

“This was your bite at the early apple,” Judge Jones said. “This case is two years old and it hasn’t even had class discovery. … I really am ready to move on.”

Serova is represented by Ray E. Gallo and Dominic R. Valerian of Gallo LLP.

The Sony Michael Jackson Songs Class Action Lawsuit is Vera Serova v. Sony Music Entertainment, et al., Case No. BC548468, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

UPDATE: On Aug. 28, 2018, a California appeals court dismissed a Sony class action lawsuit finding that even if a Michael Jackson album released after the pop king’s death included voice impersonators, the estate’s right to claim Jackson sang the songs is protected by the First Amendment.