Last year, a decades-old battle over the rights to one of the most famous songs in the world finally came to an end when a federal judge ruled that the “Happy Birthday” song is in the public domain, meaning that its publisher, Warner/Chappell, has been improperly charging hefty sums for its use. The terms of a settlement in the case show that Warner will now fork over up to $14 million to people who should not have had to pay to use the song. [More]
lawsuits
Scammy Sellers Of AF Plus, Final Trim Weight-Loss Pills Made Millions From Bogus “Risk-Free” Trials
By 2.5.16
You may have heard radio ads for weight loss supplements named AF Plus and Final Trim, promising “24 hours of fat burning power” and “maximum weight loss,” along with supposed real-world testimonials about how well these pills worked — and how you can try them now through a “risk-free” trial. Problem is, those people in the ads claiming they lost all that weight are just as fictitious as the free trial. [More]
Bill Aims To Restore Consumers’ Legal Rights Stripped Away By Supreme Court Rulings
By 2.4.16
In recent years, a narrow majority of the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly sided against consumers’ access to the justice system, concluding that a 90-year-old law gives companies the authority to effectively skirt the legal system by preempting customers’ lawsuits. That’s why some legislators have decided it’s time to change that law. [More]
2011 Hot Lotto Winner Sues Over Jackpot That Could Have Been Bigger
By 2.3.16
A lottery winner from five years ago is suing the very entity that runs the games, claiming that he should have won a bigger prize. You may remember the reason why that’s a valid argument: a former security official with the Multi-State Lottery Association has been convicted of rigging the random-number-generating computer that picks the winning numbers for Hot Lotto. Now a 2011 winner is suing, arguing that his own jackpot should have been larger. [More]
EOS Settles Lip Balm Lawsuit By Promising To Add More Info To Product Labels
By 2.3.16
The makers of EOS lip balm have resolved a federal lawsuit seeking class-action status that claimed the products give customers painful rashes and blisters. [More]
College Students Sue Google For Scanning School-Issued Gmail Accounts
By 2.3.16
Nearly two years after Google agreed to stop data-mining email accounts provided through its Google Apps For Education (GAFE) program, a group of current and former college students have sued the Internet giant for the snooping that did occur for years on the Gmail accounts provided by their university. [More]
Wells Fargo To Pay $1.2 Billion To Settle Govt. Lawsuit Over “Reckless” Mortgages
By 2.3.16
In Oct. 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Wells Fargo, alleging that the mega-bank had defrauded taxpayers by issuing “reckless” mortgages then misleading the Federal Housing Administration about the quality of those loans. Today, Wells revealed that has agreed to pay $1.2 billion to close the book on this issue. [More]
Lawsuit Claims NBA 2K16 Violates Copyright For LeBron, Kobe Tattoos
By 2.2.16
When you put a real, living human being’s likeness in a video game, you need their permission. But do you need an okay from that person’s tattoo artist — or a company that claims to have purchased the copyright for that design — to digitally recreate their body art? [More]
CVS Sued Over Claims Its Algae Supplement Improves Memory
By 2.1.16
Drugstore giant CVS is being sued for marketing and advertising its algae-based Algal-900 DHA supplements as proven memory enhancers, when the science used to prop up that claim is allegedly bogus. [More]
Walmart Ordered To Pay $31 Million For Retaliating Against Pharmacist Whistleblower
By 1.29.16
A federal jury in New Hampshire has slapped the nation’s largest retailer with more than $31 million in penalties for unlawful retaliation and gender bias against a former pharmacist who blew the whistle on safety concerns involving her co-workers. [More]
Lawsuits Claim DraftKings, FanDuel Profited Off College Athletes Without Authorization
By 1.28.16
When you place a bet on a football game, you’re just gambling on the outcome of a competition between two teams, each with dozens of players on their roster. But when you play fantasy football, you’re effectively using each player in your lineup like an individual game piece in a contest to beat another fantasy team. And a pair of new lawsuits allege that DraftKings and FanDuel are breaking the law by profiting off college athletes who have become unwitting pawns in other player’s games. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Honda Refuses To Fix Vehicles With Soy-Coated Wiring That’s Irresistible To Hungry Critters
By 1.25.16
If a car’s insides are an appealing snack for mice, squirrels, and rabbits, should the company that made the vehicle pay to fix the soy-coated wiring when those critters throw themselves a feast? The plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against Honda think so, and say the carmaker is refusing to pick up the tab for repairs. [More]
Google Paid Apple $1 Billion In 2014 For Privilege Of Search Bar On iPhone
By 1.22.16
When you go to perform a Web search on an iPhone, the phone automatically chooses Google for you. Why? There are other fine search engines out there, and the iPhone could direct you to use any of them. However, the public learned from a copyright lawsuit against Google that the two companies have a revenue-sharing agreement that keeps iPhones performing Google searches, and in 2014 the revenue that Apple received was $1 billion. [More]
Verizon FiOS May Be Shoving ESPN Back Into Its “Skinny” Bundles
By 1.22.16
Not even a year after Verizon FiOS began offering so-called “skinny” pay-TV bundles that don’t include the pricey ESPN in the required core package — and in the midst of a lawsuit filed by ESPN’s parent company Disney, alleging that Verizon is violating its contract by doing so — the telecom titan is now hinting that it’s the end times for this dream world where consumers weren’t forced to pay so much for a channel they care so little about. [More]
Nespresso Suing Coffee Competitor For Using George Clooney Doppelgänger In Ads
By 1.21.16
There is only one actor named George Clooney shilling for an espresso company, and Nespresso wants to make sure consumers know he’s only working for them: the company’s Israel arm is suing a rival for using an actor who looks somewhat like the salt-and-pepper Clooney in ads, claiming it’ll confuse customers. [More]
Supreme Court: You Can’t Shut Down A Consumer Class Action By Offering Settlement
By 1.20.16
If you believe that a company has wronged you and other consumers in the same way, you can file a class-action lawsuit seeking to represent all the purported victims of the company’s misbehavior. But can that company preempt the entire lawsuit by offering you a full settlement in advance? Today, the U.S. Supreme Court (well, six of them) said no. [More]
Costco Shrimp Lawsuit Dismissed Because Plaintiff Didn’t Buy Affected Shrimp At Costco
By 1.19.16
Disgusted at reports that some shrimp sold in the United States may have been caught by people working under slavery-like conditions, a woman in California filed a class-action lawsuit against Costco, the store where she purchased her shrimp. The problem: Costco, as a members-only warehouse, knows exactly what she has purchased, and says she didn’t actually buy any of the affected shrimp. [More]
MLB To Offer In-Market Streaming Starting In 2017 (But You’ll Still Need Cable)
By 1.19.16
The settlement of a years-old class-action lawsuit against Major League Baseball means that fans will have more streaming options for watching their favorite teams. Unfortunately, it also means that if you live in the same market as your favorite team, you still need to pay for cable. [More]
