Status and Updates

December 11, 2020: TINA.org joins other consumer advocates including UC Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice in filing a friend of the court brief with the California Supreme Court explaining, among other things, the significant consequences of allowing a sophisticated corporation like Sony Music to shield itself from liability for promotional statements made to consumers about one of its music albums.

April 22, 2020: The California Supreme Court grants consumers’ petition to review the case.

August 28, 2018: A California appellate court determines that because Sony lacked “personal knowledge” of the songs’ origins, the statements it made on the album cover and in the video amounted to the music company’s opinion and not actionable commercial speech.

December 9, 2016: The California Superior Court where the case was filed allows allegations concerning Sony’s statements made on the album cover and in a promotional video to move forward.

July 12, 2014: A class-action lawsuit is filed in California state court against Sony Music Entertainment for allegedly misleadingly representing that all of the songs on the 2010 posthumous Michael Jackson album entitled Michael were sung by Jackson when, according to plaintiffs, three of the songs were sung by someone else.