Developments and Trends Affecting Class Actions
A Pennsylvania court recently dismissed a wiretapping complaint filed against a trio of defendants for lack of Article III standing, lack of personal jurisdiction, and failure to state a claim in Ingrao v. Addshoppers, Inc., 2024 WL 4892514 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 25, 2024).
The two plaintiffs in this case…
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Court Dismisses A Trio of Defendants in Website Wiretapping Suit Challenging Email Marketing ProgramDozens of lawsuits have started challenging businesses’ use of website tools to collect IP addresses under the “pen register” and “trap and trace device” provision of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”). As we reported last month, a California court dismissed one of these lawsuits because of a…
Continue Reading Another California Court Holds CIPA’s Pen Register Provision Does Not Prohibit the Collection of IP AddressesWebsites cannot load without the transmission of an IP address, which tells websites where to deliver the webpages displayed on a user’s browser. Yet a number of lawsuits have started challenging this routine transmission of IP addresses under a lesser-known provision of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) that…
Continue Reading Court Holds CIPA’s Pen Register Provision Does Not Impose Liability for “What Makes the Internet Possible.”In a putative consumer data breach class action, a court in the Northern District of California recently denied a cloud solution company’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ negligence claim finding that the plaintiffs plausibly alleged that the company owed consumers a duty of care. See In re Accellion, Inc. Data Breach Litig., 2024 WL 4592367 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 28, 2024).
Continue Reading California Federal Court Finds Plaintiffs Plausibly Alleged That Cloud Solution Company Owed Consumers Duty of CareThe Northern District of Ohio recently granted summary judgment to Ancestry.com in a putative class action asserting that Ancestry.com violated plaintiff’s rights to publicity and privacy by using his yearbook photos in marketing materials without consent. See Wilson v. Ancestry.com, 2024 WL 3992356 (N.D. Ohio Aug. 27, 2024).
Continue Reading Ohio Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment on Right of Publicity and Invasion of Privacy Claims Involving Yearbook PhotosThe California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) provides a private right of action only to those who have “been injured by a violation of” CIPA. A California Superior Court decision, Rodriguez v. Fountain9, Inc., 2024 WL 3886811, at *4 (Cal. Super. July 9, 2024), confirmed that a plaintiff cannot satisfy this statutory standing requirement unless the plaintiff alleges “a concrete injury-in-fact.”
Continue Reading California State Court Holds That A Concrete Injury-In-Fact Is Required To Bring Claims Under CIPAA Central District of California court recently dismissed a putative privacy class action after determining that the movie theater defendants were not Video Tape Service Providers as defined by the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”). See Walsh v. California Cinema Investments LLC, 2024 WL 3593569 (C.D. Cal. July 29, 2024). Two other California federal courts recently have reached similar conclusions, and appeals of those rulings are currently pending before the Ninth Circuit. See Garza v. Alamo Intermediate II Holdings, LLC, 2024 WL 1171737, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 19, 2024); Osheske v. Silver Cinemas Acquisition Co., 700 F. Supp. 3d 921 (C.D. Cal. 2023).
Continue Reading Another California Federal Court Rules Movie Theater Is Not “Video Tape Service Provider” Under the VPPA.On August 6, 2024, Judge Jorge L. Alonso of the Northern District of Illinois issued an order dismissing Brantley v. Prisma Labs, Inc., a proposed class action suit against the creator of the “Magic Avatar” AI app for lack of standing and lack of personal jurisdiction over the representative plaintiff Tyrone Brantley.
Continue Reading Judge Makes Class Action Claims Against “Magic Avatar” AI App DisappearA recent Seventh Circuit decision, Wallrich v. Samsung Elecs. Am., Inc., — F.4th —-, 2024 WL 3249646 (7th Cir. July 1, 2024), will be of interest to companies facing mass arbitration demands.
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Reverses Order Compelling Payment of Mass Arbitration FeesEarlier this year, we covered the dismissal of a putative class action asserting Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) claims against the operators of a Texas Longhorns email newsletter. A judge in the Western District of Texas has now dismissed those claims, along with a newly asserted Wiretap Act claim, with prejudice. See Brown v. Learfield Commc’ns, LLC, 2024 WL 1477636 (W.D. Tex. June 27, 2024).
Continue Reading District Court Again Rejects VPPA, Wiretap Claims Against University Newsletter Service