Rewind and Replay: Plaintiffs Appeal Dismissal of VPPA Suits against Viacom, Google and Dow Jones

Plaintiffs in two recently dismissed class actions alleging violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”) filed notices of appeal this week, asking the Third and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals to hit the rewind button and review the merits of their respective claims. On January 20 a New Jersey federal district judge dismissed with prejudice the remaining claims in In re Nickelodeon Privacy Litigation, finding that plaintiffs did not present any allegation that Viacom or Google improperly disclosed users’ personally identifiable information (“PII”) as defined under the VPPA. A Georgia federal district judge dismissed plaintiff’s claims in Locklear v. Dow Jones & Co., Inc. on similar grounds days later. On February 13, the plaintiffs in In re Nickelodeon filed their notice of appeal with the Third Circuit seeking review of the district court’s dismissal of their VPPA claims. The plaintiff in Dow Jones & Co. filed her notice with the Eleventh Circuit on February 18, and likewise seeks review of the dismissal of her putative class action. A briefing schedule has not yet been established.