Willens v. Kohan
Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (section 425.16 or the anti-SLAPP statute[1]) offers a procedure for early dismissal of meritless claims that are based upon a defendants exercise of constitutionally protected speech or petitioning activity. It involves a two-step analysis. First, when the defendant makes an anti-SLAPP motion, the trial court decides whether the defendant has made a threshold showing that the challenged cause of action is one arising from protected activity. ( 425.16, subd. (b)(1).) Second, if the court finds such a showing has been made, it then must consider whether the plaintiff has demonstrated a probability of prevailing on the claim.
Kohan is correct that the conduct on which Willenss claims are based is not the network broadcast without Willens being listed in the credits, but rather Kohans selling the show as her own singular idea. The result, however, is not the one Kohan seeks. To the contrary, the result, as the trial court correctly concluded, is that the anti SLAPP statute does not apply, because the conduct on which Willenss claims are based does not arise from Kohans exercise of her constitutionally protected right to free speech.
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