The Eighth Circuit recently affirmed dismissal of a putative class action asserting that defendant Cinema Entertainment Corporation, a regional movie theater chain, violated the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”) by disclosing website visitors’ information through a third-party pixel.  See Christopherson v. Cinema Ent. Corp., No. 24-3042, 2025 WL 3512393 (8th Cir. Dec. 8, 2025). 

Plaintiff Gina Christopherson alleged that Cinema Entertainment’s use of a third-party pixel on its website gave the third party the ability to collect website visitors’ data, including purchase information and movie trailer viewing history, for purposes of targeted advertising.  In September 2024, the District Court for the District of Minnesota granted Cinema Entertainment’s motion to dismiss, holding that movie theater operators like Cinema Entertainment are not “video tape service providers” under the VPPA.

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal on that same basis.  Judge Stras, joined by Judges Benton and Grasz, reasoned that Cinema Entertainment was not “engaged in the business of . . . rental, sale, or delivery of prerecorded video cassette tapes or similar audio visual materials.”  Rather, “Cinema Entertainment’s ‘business’ is filling theaters,” and not the delivery of “audio visual materials” that, like video cassette tapes, have a “physical existence” and permit the user to pause, rewind, and otherwise control their viewing experience.  While movie theaters may “deliver” movies, they do not provide the “materials necessary to watch them,” and therefore fall outside the scope of the VPPA. 

Judge Stras also rejected Christopherson’s argument that Cinema Entertainment was liable under the VPPA based on its provision of online movie trailers.  Even assuming that making trailers available on its website qualified as the delivery of “similar audio visual materials,” Cinema Entertainment is not “engaged in the business of” providing movie trailers; the trailers are advertisements intended to “get potential customers in the seats by generating interest and anticipation for a film.” 

With its decision, the Eighth Circuit joins the Ninth Circuit, which issued a similar decision earlier this year in Osheske v. Silver Cinemas Acquisition Co., 132 F.4th 1110 (9th Cir. 2025), to become the second appellate court to determine that the VPPA does not extend to movie theaters.