Author Timothy Ferriss, and his publisher, Random House, enter the new year with a dismissal in court. The Illinois Supreme Court, on December 21, dismissed the class action lawsuit Mario Aliano v. Timothy Ferriss and Random House, Inc. The suit alleged that Ferriss's business book The 4-Hour Body unfairly advertised special additional content to those who initially bought the book, since the "bonus material" in question was made available to the public at large a month after the book went on sale. Aliano claimed that the value of the book was tied up with the promise of the bonus material, and that he had incurred damages in paying too much for the product at hand.
In the decision, Judge Stuart Palmer said: "Initially Aliano's alleged harm was not having any access to the Bonus Material. However, Aliano argues that he had been harmed by not having exclusive access to the Bonus Material because purchase of the book was not required in order to access the Bonus Material."
