Judge Daniel D. Crabtree, in the District of Kansas, held that movie theater operators are not subject to the VPPA’s requirements.
Plaintiffs alleged that the theater operator violated the VPPA by sharing personal information with Facebook after customers purchased movie tickets online. The VPPA, enacted in response to concerns over the disclosure of video rental records, prohibits “video tape service providers” from knowingly disclosing personally identifiable information about consumers, except under certain circumstances.
Whether a movie theater is a “video tape service provider” under the VPPA, depends on a finding that the business is engaged in the rental, sale, or delivery of prerecorded video cassette tapes or similar audiovisual materials.
Start with the overwhelming weight of authority. So far, every federal court to consider the inquiry—six district courts and the 9th Circuit—agrees. A movie theater who shows movies doesn’t “deliver” movies within the meaning of the VPPA.
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The plain meaning of “delivery” requires dismissal of this action. “Delivery” means the “formal act of voluntarily transferring something; esp., the act of bringing goods, letters, etc. to a particular person or place.” Delivery, Black’s Law Dictionary (12th ed. 2024); accord Berryman, 763 F. Supp. 3d at 603. “[M]ovie theaters do not ‘bring’ movies to any person or place—people go to the movies, not the other way around.” Garza, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48651, 2024 WL 1171737, at *1. Nor do movie theaters “transfer” movies to their patrons. In short, “[m]ovie theaters do not rent movies, sell movies, or deliver movies; they ‘show’ movies.” Osheske I, 700 F. Supp. 3d at 925; Hoge, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 193129, 2024 WL 4547208, at *2 (same).…
