CLAIMS PROCESSING PROCEDURES, TIMING AND MAJOR ISSUE

   Claims processing involves three major steps.

Evaluation of claims by the Claims Administrator according to established criteria.
Challenges to claims by publishers or databases.
Resolution of defense challenges which can't be informally resolved.

A large part, but not all, of the first step took place in 2005-6. The remaining part took place over the last several months and more than 1300 claimants received notices about possible problems with a claim. They are responding. Their responses are considered and a decision made.

Then, the claims that have made it through that process and are still considered eligible are submitted to publishers and databases, who then can present challenges to those claims. Those challenges are presented to claimants who can respond to the challenge. The parties will attempt to informally resolve such challenges, but if that is not possible that dispute will go to a third party for a decision which is final and without appeal. There will be no payments until this process is completed.

There have been statements indicating that this could be completed by early 2015. That is possible but, in my view, optimistic.

There is an issue of major significance presenting itself. I say major because it affects thousands of works and at least hundreds of claimants. In general it involves claims for works that were syndicated. This issue was identified during the negotiations in 2012-13. It was not resolved by those negotiations. It must be resolved now. The parties are commencing discussions to that end.

I am purposely not discussing details of this issue at this time. However, if it appears that it will significantly delay claims processing I will describe it here. It is not an issue on which, so far as I can tell now, claimant input would be helpful.

Notices from Administrator about eligible publications

To class members receiving notice about their articles not being eligible because the publisher does not appear on the official list.  If you know or believe that your article appeared on or in any database or archive that was available to anyone, for example on a website run by the publisher or an individual publication, provide whatever information you have to the Administrator. You can also provide a copy of your information to me. I will make every effort to see that all eligible articles are recognized. It appears that there may be some publications that did not copy their print articles to databases or websites, so some articles may not be eligible. Charles Chalmers, C Claims Counsel, chalmerscd@gmail.com. 

CLAIMS PROCESSING AND CLAIMS INFORMATION

The processing of claims hasn't started yet, but preparations for that processing are under way. The time for the processing is unclear but almost certainly will be in the neighborhood of six months.

There will one or two ocassions during that time that you will receive a notice from the administrator about any specific claims or work for which there is question or problem, unless you received a notice on the problem in 2006. At that time you will have the opportunity to offer your view, except for omissions or defects for which you received a letter in 2006.

We have an interim report on the claims which reflects an initial review by the administrator, and it categorizes claims in various ways. It details problems if any have been spotted at this time, and if none it indicates the value of the claim. This is definitely interim, as there is another detailed process of review for eligibility that will take place in coming months.

The administrator will not respond to individual inquiries. However, time permitting, I will respond to them.
I say time permitting because there are about 2500 claimants. I will do the best I can but a response may not be prompt. I will do this for all categories.

It will be helpful to us if you do contact me because by reviewing with you any problems that have already been identified I may be able to improve the future processing, and possibly shorten the time.

Charles D Chalmers
chalmerscd@gmail.com

OBJECTION DEADLINE PAST

The objection deadline is past. There is one objection about faulty mailing of four or five notices in 2005. There are also two or three "complaints" [meaning not formal objections] also about the notice in 2005. There is no objection to the terms of the settlement. This makes it likely, but not certain, that the settlement will be approved on or near June 10th.

There is one issue raised by objection concerning the proposed fee, and fee allocation process among the original class counsel, now referred to as the A/B counsel. There maybe further briefing on that issue, and it should be decided on June 10th. This issue does not appear to have any potential to disrupt the settlement, so even if one or more parties are unhappy with the decision and initiates an appeal, it should not affect the approval of the settlement, or further processing of the claims.

NO CLAIM NOTICES

Many claimants have received a notice that says "no claim" and sometimes with a second one that says they have a claim. Its just a minor screw up. There's an explanation on the settlement website http://www.copyrightclassaction.com/ . Anyone who wants to confirm they have a claim can email me at
cchalmers@allegiancelit.com, or chalmerscd@gmail.com. If a lot people ask (There are about 2500 claimants) it will take be awhile to respond.

Preliminary approval given today. Final approval hearing scheduled for June 10th.