Case Summary

4984 Class action plaintiffs were indie rock musicians whose band names were mentioned in an editorial feature included with a cigarette ad in the fold-out section of a magazine. The trial court improperly denied the publisher's and tobacco company's anti-SLAPP motions to dismiss the plaintiffs' misappropriation and unfair competition law causes of action. Although plaintiffs may have been harmed by defendants' actions, defendants were exercising free speech rights in connection with an important public issue, and plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that defendants acted with actual malice.

STEWART v ROLLING STONE LLC (Smoke in the Rock Musicians' Eyes) 181 CA4 664 [See CCP § 425.16; Civ Code § 3344; New York Times Co. v. Sullivan 376 U.S. 254]