The New York Times and California Newspaper Group have settled a multi-million dollar lawsuit over the NYT’s alleged use of an auto-renew subscription service that was found to be in violation of California law.
The ca newspaper renewal settlement is a $5.563M settlement between the New York Times and California.
The New York Times Co. has agreed to a $5.563 million class action settlement in favor of customers whose newspaper subscriptions were automatically renewed.
Anyone who enrolled in an automatically renewing New York Times subscription directly through The New York Times Co. using a California billing and/or delivery address from June 17, 2016, to May 12, 2021, and was charged and paid an automatic renewal fee or fees in connection with that subscription is included in the Class.
In a class action complaint, the main plaintiff claimed she had bought a monthly New York Times membership but was shocked when it automatically renewed and she was paid for extra months. The business allegedly broke California law by failing to notify customers about the auto-renew practice.
The allegations are denied by the New York Times Company. A court has not decided in either party’s favor.
The New York Times, which was established in 1851, reported having more than 7.8 million subscribers across print and digital platforms as of May 5, 2021.
$1.65 million in cash and $3.913 million in automatic access credentials make up the settlement money.
Each Class Member will be entitled to receive an access code for free use of certain digital subscriptions to The New York Times once the settlement is completed, or to file a valid claim and receive a proportional cash payment.
The payouts are expected to be about $5, according to the class counsel.
The automated access token will be sent to those who do not file a claim and do not opt out of the settlement. Certain digital New York Times subscriptions that would usually need a paid membership will be available for free with this code.
There will be no obligation to use the service once the trial time has ended.
Class members who have an active New York Times subscription but do nothing will get a coupon for a free one-month digital product subscription (such as the Cooking or Crosswords features) that they do not presently subscribe to.
If a Class Member is eligible for all of the New York Times’ digital subscription options but does not take action, they will be given a complimentary one-month Basic Digital Access Subscription that they may share with friends and family.
Those who have a dormant New York Times membership will get the Basic Digital Access Subscription as well.
In addition to the monetary compensation, The New York Times Co. has agreed to comply with California law by revising the automatic renewal conditions on its checkout sites and in direct-mail solicitations.
Customers who place new orders for an automatically renewing New York Times subscription will get an acknowledgement that includes the auto-renew terms, cancellation policy, and other details.
On September 10, 2021, a final approval hearing for the New York Times subscription auto-renewal settlement will be held.
The deadline to request to be excluded from the settlement or to object to it is July 24, 2021.
In addition, the deadline to submit a claim is July 24, 2021.