Judge David B. Gaultney, Peters
v. Blockbuster, Inc. (December 4, 2001) No. 09-01-172 CV (Tex.
App.-Beaumont, 2001), 65 S.W.3d 295, 307:
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“The goals of Rule 42 and due process were
satisfied by the notice here…We overrule appellants’ issues attacking the
class notice.”
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Judge Milton Gunn Shuffield, Scott v. Blockbuster Inc. (January 22, 2002) No. D 162-535 (Jud. Dist. Ct. TX):
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"In order to maximize the efficiency of the notice, a professional concern, Hilsoft Notifications, was retained.
This Court concludes that the notice campaign was the best practicable, reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties of the settlement and afford them an opportunity to present their objections…The notice campaign was highly successful and effective, and it more than satisfied the due process and state law requirements for class notice."
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Geoffrey Miller, the Max Greenberg Professor at Law, NYU, testified at the Scott v. Blockbuster Fairness Hearing on December 10-11, 2001, before Judge Milton Shuffield:
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"I really have never seen in the many years I’ve been looking at class actions, a notice campaign in a consumer case that was done with this much care and this much real forethought and imagination. It’s very difficult to reach 40 million people, and I can’t imagine doing a better job than as what was done in this case."
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Since Blockbuster opened its first store in 1985, the company has grown into the world's No. 1 video chain with more than 52 million U.S. and Canadian member accounts active during 2001, plus several million additional member accounts worldwide. In 2001, an estimated average of more than 3 million customers walked into Blockbuster stores every day.
Targeting Blockbuster video renters nationally in the $460 million Scott v. Blockbuster settlement,
the notice plan achieved a very broad reach among an estimated 40+ million class members, involving the issue of extended viewing fees. The notice program, consisting of in-store efforts, consumer publications, Internet banners, news articles, and website visits, provided the large percentage of class members who were reached with multiple opportunities to see, read, and react to the notices. The plan took advantage of a unique opportunity in which millions of class members were directly handed Court-approved notices in the form of customized printed in-store register receipts. The country was talking about the ‘extra-long’ receipts they received with their video rental. Hilsoft Notifications provided a detailed analysis of the effectiveness of this in-store notice as well as the entire notice program in a comprehensive final report. In addition to its effectiveness, the extensive program was also very cost efficient. Hilsoft negotiations for the national publication schedule resulted in greatly discounted placements.
In its final report, Hilsoft Notifications studied the results of the notification and calculated the audience coverage, with proprietary tools that allow conservative calculations of notice exposure from a variety of dissemination methods. Here, these determinations included the effectiveness provided by in-store delivery, publications, and press coverage of the settlement in 1,350 news articles.