The Court authorized this Notice because you have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options, before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the Settlement. This Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

The Honorable Ronnie Abrams, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is overseeing this case. The case is called Moses v. The New York Times Company, Case No. 1:20-cv-04658-RA. The person who sued is called the Plaintiff. The Defendant is The New York Times Company.

In a class action, one or more people called class representatives (in this case, Maribel Moses) sue on behalf of a group or a “class” of people who have similar claims. In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

This lawsuit claims that NYT violated California law by automatically renewing its customers’ subscriptions and charging customers’ payment methods without first providing certain disclosures and obtaining the requisite authorizations. NYT denies the claims in the lawsuit and contends that it did not do anything wrong and denies that class certification is warranted or appropriate. The Court did not resolve the claims and defenses raised in this action. Nor has the Court determined that NYT did anything wrong or that this matter should be certified as a class action except if the Settlement is fully approved by the Court. Rather, the Parties have, without admitting liability, agreed to settle the lawsuit to avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiff or NYT should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to a Settlement. That way, they avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation, and Class Members will get compensation sooner rather than, if at all, after the completion of a trial.

The issuance of this Notice is not an expression of the Court's opinion on the merit or the lack of merit of the Representative Plaintiff's claims or the defenses in the lawsuit. Both parties recognize that to resolve the issues raised in the lawsuit would be time-consuming, uncertain, and expensive.

The Court decided that everyone who fits the following description is a member of the Settlement Class:

All persons who from June 17, 2016, to and through May 12, 2021, enrolled in a NYT Subscription using a California billing address and/or delivery zip code with Defendant and whose payment methods were directly billed by NYT in connection with such subscription.

Monetary Relief: A Settlement Fund has been created with a value of approximately $5,563,000, consisting of $1,650,000 in cash benefits and approximately $3,913,000 in Automatic Access Codes.  The Settlement Fund Class Member payments, as well as the cost to administer the Settlement, the cost to inform people about the Settlement, attorneys’ fees, and an award to the Class Representative, will come out of this fund (see FAQ 12).

Prospective Relief: NYT has agreed to revise the presentation and wording of the automatic renewal terms on its checkout pages in its mobile and desktop platforms and in its direct mail offers to be consistent with the requirements of Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17602(a)(1)-(2). NYT has further agreed to provide consumers who submit a new order for an automatically renewing subscription with an acknowledgment that includes the automatic renewal terms, cancellation policy, and information regarding how to cancel in a manner that is capable of being retained by the consumer, consistent with Bus. & Prof. Code § 17602(c).

A detailed description of the Settlement benefits can be found in the Settlement Agreement which can be found in the Important Documents section of the website.

Once the Settlement becomes Final, each class member is eligible to receive an access code for free use of certain digital NYT subscriptions, or submit a valid claim and receive a pro rata cash payment from the Settlement Fund, which Class Counsel estimates to be $5 based on expected claims rates.

If you did not submit a valid Claim Form by the claims deadline, and as long as you didn't exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you will receive an Automatic Access Code for free use of certain digital NYT subscriptions that normally require a paid subscription, with no expectation or obligation to continue using the services beyond the free period.  If you have an active NYT Subscription and do nothing, you will receive an Automatic Access Code for a free one-month NYT Digital Product Subscription (e.g., Cooking, Crosswords) to which you do not currently subscribe.  If you are entitled to receive all of NYT’s digital subscription offerings and do nothing, you will receive an Automatic Access Code for a free one-month NYT Basic Digital Access Subscription to be shared with friends or family. If you have an inactive NYT Subscription and do nothing, you will receive Automatic Access Code for a free one-month NYT Basic Digital Access Subscription. If you wished to receive cash, you must have made an election to receive cash by submitting a valid Claim Form to the Settlement Administrator by July 24, 2021.

The hearing to consider the fairness of the settlement is scheduled for September 10, 2021. If the Court approves the Settlement, eligible Class Members whose claims were approved by the Settlement Administrator will receive their payment after the Settlement has been finally approved and/or after any appeals process is complete. Class Members who do nothing will automatically receive their settlement benefits in the form of the free Automatic Access Code. Class members who submit valid Claims Forms by the by the claims deadline will receive their payment in the form of a check, and all checks will expire and become void 180 days after they are issued.

If the Settlement becomes final, you will give up your right to sue NYT and other Released Parties for the claims being resolved by this Settlement. The specific claims you are giving up against NYT are described in the Settlement Agreement. You will be “releasing” NYT and certain of its affiliates, employees and representatives as described in Section 3.2 of the Settlement Agreement. Unless you exclude yourself (see FAQ 13), you are “releasing” the claims, regardless of whether you submit a claim or not. The Settlement Agreement is available through the Important Documents page of this website.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully. If you have any questions you can talk to the lawyers listed in FAQ 11 for free, or you can talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

If you have an active NYT Subscription and do nothing, you will receive an Automatic Access Code for a free one-month NYT Digital Product Subscription (e.g., Cooking, Crosswords) to which you do not currently subscribe.  If you are entitled to receive all of NYT’s digital subscription offerings, you will receive an Automatic Access Code for a free one-month NYT Basic Digital Access Subscription to be shared with friends or family. If you have an inactive NYT Subscription and do nothing, you will receive an Automatic Access Code for a free one-month NYT Basic Digital Access Subscription.

Automatic Access Codes will be issued in such a manner that they: (i) will not expire for at least 50 years ; (ii) will be freely transferrable, subject to reasonable measures to prevent fraud, duplicating, or counterfeiting of vouchers (including but not limited to requirements concerning printing and authentication, and use of serial numbers, UPC coding, specialized ink and/or paper, watermarks, and/or holograms, and/or physical delivery-all subject to specification by Defendant); (iii) will be redeemable exclusively online, for exclusively digital subscriptions; and (iv) will be redeemable in exchange for certain NYT subscriptions, including a free one-month NYT Digital Product Subscription (for class members with active NYT Subscriptions) and a free one-month NYT Basic Digital Access Subscription (for class members with inactive NYT Subscriptions).  Automatic Access Codes may not be used to pay for an existing NYT Subscription.

Automatic Access Codes will be distributed to you after the deadline to appeal the Settlement Approval Order and Final Judgment has passed, assuming no appeal is filed.

The Court has appointed Bursor & Fisher, P.A to be the attorneys representing the Settlement Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” They believe, after conducting an extensive investigation, that the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer in this case, you may hire one at your expense.

Any Class Counsel attorneys’ fees and costs awarded by the Court will be paid out of the Settlement Fund in an amount to be determined by the Court. The fee petition will seek no more than $1,250,000.00; the Court may award less than this amount. Under the Settlement Agreement, any amount awarded to Class Counsel will be paid out of the Settlement Fund.

Subject to approval by the Court, the Class Representative may be paid up to $5,000 from the Settlement Fund.

You had the right to not be part of the Settlement by excluding yourself or “opting out” of the Settlement Class. If you wished to exclude yourself, you must have done so on or before July 24, 2021.

If your request for exclusion is late or deficient, you will be considered a part of the Settlement Class, you will be bound by the settlement and by all other orders and judgments in this lawsuit, and you will not be able to participate in any other lawsuits based on the claims in this case.

No. Unless you excluded yourself, you gave up any right to sue NYT for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

No. If you excluded yourself, you will not receive any settlement benefits.

You had the right to file a written objection to the Settlement. If you wished to object, you must have done so on or before July 24, 2021.

If you wanted to appear and speak at the Final Approval Hearing to object to the Settlement, with or without a lawyer (explained below in answer to FAQ 20), you must have said so in your letter or brief and filed the objection with the Court and mailed a copy to Plaintiff's Counsel and NYT's Counsel, postmarked no later than July 24, 2021. IF YOU DID NOT TIMELY MAKE YOUR OBJECTION, YOU WILL BE DEEMED TO HAVE WAIVED ALL OBJECTIONS AND WILL NOT BE ENTITLED TO SPEAK AT THE FAIRNESS HEARING.

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you don't like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Class. Excluding yourself from the Class is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the Settlement no longer affects you.

The Court will hold the Final Approval Hearing at 3:00 p.m. on September 10, 2021, in Courtroom 1506 at the Thurgood Marshall Federal Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, NY 10007. The purpose of the hearing will be for the Court to determine whether to approve the Settlement as fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Class; to consider the Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses; and to consider the request for an incentive award to the Class Representative. At that hearing, the Court will be available to hear any timely filed objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the Settlement.

The hearing may be postponed to a different date or time without notice, so it is a good idea to check the landing page of this website or call toll free 1-833-636-2114. If, however, you timely objected to the Settlement and advised the Court that you intend to appear and speak at the Final Approval Hearing, you will receive notice of any change in the date of such Final Approval Hearing.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. But you are welcome to come at your own expense. If you sent an objection or comment, you don’t have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as you filed and mailed your written objection on time, the Court will consider it. You may also pay another lawyer to attend, but it’s not required.

Yes. So long as you timely filed an objection to the settlement, you may have asked the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing, but do not have to. To do so, you must have included in your letter or brief objecting to the settlement a statement saying that it is your “Notice of Intent to Appear in Moses v. The New York Times Company, Case No. 1:20-cv-04658-RA.” It must have included your name, address, telephone number and signature as well as the name and address of your lawyer, if one is appearing for you. Your objection and notice of intent to appear must have been filed with the Court and postmarked no later than July 24, 2021, and be sent to the parties listed in FAQ 16. 

The Notice summarizes the Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement on the Important Documents page. You may also write with questions to CA Renewal Settlement NYT, c/o JND Legal Administration, PO Box 91409, Seattle, WA 98111. You can call the Settlement Administrator at 1-833-636-2114 if you have any questions. Before doing so, however, please read the full Notice carefully. You may also find additional information elsewhere on the case website. Please do not telephone the Court to inquire about the Settlement or the claims process.