Legal Question in Business Law in California

California law allows for the automatic renewal of a subscription, provided the automatic renewal is one of the terms in the agreement between the newspaper and the customer. Everything depends on the original subscription terms, which the newspaper should be able to give you.

Yes, automatic-renewal subscriptions to newspapers are legal and pretty common, and are sometimes referred to as "til forbid" or "evergreen" subscriptions. Your original subscription agreement should, however, contain some language to the effect that it was "good until terminated" or some such wording. The fact that you had a payment interval (such as paying once a year in advance) does not imply a renewal interval.