class action

Opt-out collective actions (i.e. US-style class actions) can only be brought in the UK as competition law claims.  Periodic proposals  to legislate to expand this regime to consumer law claims have so far faltered.  However, this is now back on the Parliamentary agenda.  Several members of the House of Lords have indicated their support for expanding the regime to allow consumers and small businesses to bring opt-out collective actions for breaches of consumer law, and potentially on other bases.

If implemented, this expansion would be very significant and would allow for many new types of class actions in the UK.  Tech companies are already prime targets as defendants to competition-related opt-out class actions.  An expansion of the regime to allow actions for breaches of consumer law, as well as competition law, would only increase their exposure further.

As there is now limited time for legislation to be passed to effect such changes before the UK Parliament is dissolved in advance of an upcoming general election, this may be an issue for the next Parliament.  It will therefore be important to assess what the UK’s main parties say on this – and any manifesto commitments – in the run-up to the election.Continue Reading UK Opt-Out Class Actions for Non-Competition Claims back on Parliamentary Agenda

A long-running copyright infringement action by the Authors Guild (a non-profit authors’ organization) against Google has been temporarily placed on pause.  On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted Google’s unopposed motion for a stay pending its interlocutory appeal of class certification in The Authors Guild, Inc., et al. v. Google, …
Continue Reading Second Circuit Stays Google Books Case Pending Class Certification Appeal

A copyright-infringement lawsuit challenging the Google Books service will proceed in a New York federal district court, even while an appeals court considers whether the suit can proceed as a class action.

In an order filed Wednesday, Judge Denny Chin declined Google’s request to stay the district-court proceedings. Judge Chin granted class-action status to the plaintiffs in May, certifying a class consisting of “[a]ll persons residing in the United States who hold a copyright interest in one or more Books reproduced by Google as part of its Library Project.”  Google seeks to challenge the certification on the basis (i) that the proposed class representatives cannot adequately represent absent class members who benefit from the Google Books project (an “intra-class conflict”) and (ii) that Google’s principal “fair use” defense is unique to each individual work, defeating the Rule 23(b)(3) requirement that common issues predominate.Continue Reading District Court: Google Books Case Will Proceed While Class Certification Is Appealed

Google may appeal a New York federal district court’s decision to grant class-action status to a copyright-infringement lawsuit challenging the Google Books service, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday.  The Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc., No. 12-2402 (2d Cir. Aug. 14, 2012).

Google launched its Google Books Library Project in 2004, when it reached agreements with several major research libraries allowing Google to digitally scan the libraries’ collections, which Google then displayed in an online, searchable database. Many works in the Google Books database remain under copyright and were scanned and displayed without permission from copyright holders.Continue Reading Appeals court allows Google to challenge class certification in Google Books suit