Lawsuit Update Center
AMC recently agreed to pay $8.3 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that it disclosed subscribers personal information to third parties without consent. Individuals covered by the settlement may have recently received emails. In this post, we will explain what the AMC subscriber class action lawsuit was about, who qualifies to participate in the settlement, and how much money you can get.
Lawsuit Filed Against AMC on Behalf of AMC+ Subscribers
AMC+ is a media production and distribution company that sells its content on multiple platforms. One line of AMC+’s business is streaming video services, whereby AMC provides video content (i.e., movies and TV shows) to subscribers through a streaming platform.
In March 2023, a class action consumer fraud lawsuit was filed alleging that AMC+ was unlawfully disclosing personal subscriber information to third parties without the consent of the subscribers. According to the lawsuit, when AMC+ subscribers made selections about what shows or movies they wanted to watch, AMC+ was transmitting that selection data to Facebook through code written into the AMC+ platform. the information shared with Facebook included the consumer’s Facebook ID (“FID”) coupled with the title of the specific video that the consumer requested or obtained on AMC+.
The lawsuit also asserted that AMC+ also maintained records which identify the specific content requested and obtained by its consumers. The records consisted of consumers’ account login information, payment information, and requests for specific video materials.
The class action lawsuit asserted that all of these data collection and sharing activities by AMC+ were done in violation of state and federal laws designed to protect consumer confidentiality. Specifically, the complaint claims that AMC+ actions were in violation of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. § 2710) (the “VPPA”) and similar state laws in New York and Minnesota.
These statutes prohibit AMC+ from disclosing this type of information without the consent of the consumer. According to the lawsuit, AMC+ never obtained consumer consent. The lawsuit was brought by a group of named plaintiffs on behalf of all AMC+ subscribers who had their user information disclosed without consent.
AMC Subscriber Settlement
In December 2023, AMC agreed to settle the class action lawsuit over the alleged unlawful disclosure of consumer information. Under the settlement agreement, AMC+ agreed to stop disclosing consumer information and to create a settlement fund of $8.3 million to compensate subscribers. Payment of compensation to claimants will be handled by a third party settlement administrator.
Who is Eligible to Participate in the AMC Settlement?
Anyone who subscribed to the AMC+, Shudder, Acorn TV, ALLBLK, SundanceNow and/or HIDIVE streaming services between January 2021 and January 2024 is potentially eligible to file a claim and receive compensation under the settlement. As part of the settlement, AMC was required to send notices out to potential claimants so eligible AMC+ subscribers may have already received an email (to the email account they used when they setup their AMC+ subscription).
The email from AMC contains important information about how to submit a claim. However, if you are otherwise eligible to participate you can file a claim directly by logging into the claim administrators website.
How Much Money Will Claimants Get?
Under the terms of the settlement, all claimants will receive an equal share of the settlement fund. At this stage, we don’t know how much money individual claimants will potentially get from the settlement. Why? Because the amount of individual settlement payments will depend on how many people file claims. The claims that get filed the more the individual payments will be for those who do file. The size of the potential settlement class is over 11 million people. That means that if just 50% of class members file claims the payouts would be around $1 per person. There is one other perk, however. All claimants who submit claims and are approved also get a free week subscription to AMC+.
Not surprisingly, public reaction to the settlement deal has been extremely negative.
When is the Claim Deadline?
April 9, 2024 is the deadline to file a claim and participate in the AMC+ subscriber privacy violation settlement.
Who is the Claims Administrator?
AMC VPPA Settlement Administrator
1650 Arch Street, Suite 2210
Philadelphia, PA19103
888-871-5788
What Proof is Required to Submit a Claim?
Claimants will need to provide the email address they used to create their AMC+ streaming account. This is not a no proof class action settlement.
