John Burke v. Tv Guide Magazine Group, Inc.
Dissenting Opinion
I would reverse because I cannot say that leave to amend would be futile. The promotional materials do not define “double or special issue.” The contract, fraud, and misleading advertising claims could be viable after further development of the record to show what the parties intended the terms to mean and how a reasonable consumer would have understood the terms. See Richeson v. Helal, 158 Cal.App.4th 268, 70 Cal.Rptr.3d 18, 25 (2007); Consumer Advocates v. Echostar Satellite Corp., 113 Cal.App.4th 1351, 8 Cal.Rptr.3d 22, 30 (2003).
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
Burke appeals the district court’s dismissal of the underlying class action for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and failure to plead fraud and fraud-based claims with the requisite particularity required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(b). This court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
The district court ruled that plaintiff failed to state a valid cause of action, based on its finding that defendants made no promises or representations regarding the amount of content or number of pages featured in a “double” or “special” issue of TV Guide. Plaintiff suggests that it is at least a question of fact whether a reasonable consumer would have understood the term “double issue” to mean an issue with roughly double the number of pages or content contained in a “single issue.”
Burke’s fraud claim similarly fails because the subscription offer identified in Burke’s complaint plainly discloses that double and special issues would be counted as two issues. Accordingly, there was no fraud as a matter of law. Similarly, plaintiff has failed to allege any “unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising,” to prove claims under California’s unfair competition law or California’s false advertising law. Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code §§ 17200 & 17500.
AFFIRM.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- John BURKE, in His Individual and Representative Capacity on Behalf of a Class of All Persons Similarly Situated, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TV GUIDE MAGAZINE GROUP, INC., a California Corporation, Defendant, and Opengate Capital, LLC, a California Company; Rovi Corporation, a California Corporation; Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc., a California Corporation, Defendants-Appellees
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Unpublished