The Washington Post follows up on the class action filed against Sony over its use of a non-existent blurber to promote several movies (see Aug. 3, 2005, Mar. 13, 2004, Jun. 12, 2001) and finds that only 170 customers filed verified claims, resulting in a payout of $5,085 by the studio. Meanwhile, according to court papers, “the attorneys for the plaintiffs got $458,909. Sony paid an additional $250,000 for administrative fees and costs associated with alerting moviegoers to the settlement and processing the claims,” and donated to charity nearly all the $500,000 that had been set aside to pay consumers. As it happens, “news of the settlement went out on the news wires a month after the deadline to sign up as a claimant had passed”. California appellate judge Reuben Ortega, dissenting from his court’s decision to let the case go forward, had written: “This is the most frivolous case with which I have ever had to deal” and called it a “disgrace” and “farce”. (William Booth, “Big Payday for Lawyers In Sony Fake-Blurb Deal”, Washington Post, Sept. 10). More: Larry Ribstein comments (Sept. 10).

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