Dynamic Accident Lawyers: Dismissal of Facebook Class Action over Ads Featuring Minors Is Affirmed

Facebook Lawsuit Last week, the ruling dismissing a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Facebook Inc. of using the likenesses and names of children in third party advertising without consent was affirmed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The plaintiffs alleged in the original class action lawsuit, which was filed in 2011, that Facebook violated California state law by using pictures and names of underage children in advertisements without prior consent.

The Facebook class action was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in March. The judge found that Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (SRRs) “include written consent to the challenged use of names and profile photos,” and that “the underlying damages claims are not viable.”

Judge Seeborg concluded, “Because plaintiffs have not articulated a viable legal theory on which the SRRs could be found unenforceable, the complaint must be dismissed.”

The 9th Circuit reaffirmed Judge Seeborg’s ruling last week. “By continuing to use facebook.com after bringing their action, plaintiffs manifested an intention not to disaffirm the contract,” wrote the court in the ruling.

The plaintiffs had argued in their class action lawsuit that minors could not have entered into a legally enforceable contract because of their age; however, the 9th Circuit pointed out that minors are only prohibited from entering into contracts over personal property rights and that the terms and conditions that the minors accepted when they signed up to use Facebook’s services don’t involve any personal property rights.

The 9th Circuit also explained in their ruling that under California state law a person can’t deny one part of a contract while continuing to enjoy another part of the contract that provides them some benefit, such as Facebook services.

While affirming the lower federal court’s decision to dismiss the Facebook class action lawsuit, the 9th Circuit also explained the dismissal further, noting that the plaintiffs argued that the Facebook terms of service or SSR amounted to a “delegation of power.” However, for that argument to work, that term had to involve a minor appointing someone else to act on their behalf and for their benefit, which was not the case in this class action lawsuit, according to the appellate court ruling.

Other class action lawsuits have plagued Facebook over its practice of featuring users in its ads. A $20 million settlement of a separate class action lawsuit has faced objections by parties arguing that the settlement should not allow the company to put minors in ads. Other objections have been filed contending that the payment received by class members would be too small, but charities named in the settlement will receive millions.

Circuit Judges Marsha S. Berzon, William A. Fletcher and Carlos Bea sat on the panel.

The plaintiffs are represented by Steven A. Katz and Aaron M. Zigler of Korein Tillery LLC and Lee Squitieri of Squitieri & Fearon LLP.

The Facebook Minor Ad Class Action Lawsuit is C.M.D., et al. v. Facebook Inc., Case No. 3:12-cv-01216, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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