Ownership questions surrounding literary works have become increasingly complicated due to the involvement of defunct publishers and shared rights among authors. Orphan works pose additional challenges to identifying rightsholders. If the class action proceeds, the district court may confront numerous mini-trials to resolve these issues. Moreover, potential rightsholders may remain unaware of ongoing lawsuits, complicating notification processes. The court's approach to class certification raises fundamental fairness and due process concerns for absent authors, suggesting that simplistically allowing opt-outs is insufficient to address deeper issues.
The district court apparently didn't even consider 'what will be done with authors who are dead and whose literary estates hold rights split across multiple parties.'
If the class action moves forward, groups warned that the court may have to review 'hundreds of mini-trials to sort out these issues.'
...the court suggested that it was acceptable to certify the massive class because any authors who did not want to join could opt out.
A lackadaisical approach put authors who may never hear about the lawsuit - and perhaps would have litigated their claims differently - in a difficult position.
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