Fandango Video Privacy Protection Act Settlement

A Court authorized the Notice because you have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options, before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

The Honorable Timothy J. McJoynt, of the Circuit Court of DuPage County, Illinois, Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, is overseeing this case. The case is called Jackson v. Fandango Media, LLC, Case No. 2023LA000631. The people who have sued are called the Plaintiffs. The Defendant is Fandango Media, LLC.

In a class action, one or more people called the class representatives (in this case, Sonya Jackson, Jason Goldstein, and Tammy Huttemeyer) sue on behalf of a group or a “class” of people who have similar claims. In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

The class action lawsuit alleges that Fandango disclosed information that identifies an account holder as having requested or obtained specific video materials or services, such as watching a movie trailer, to Facebook via the Facebook Tracking Pixel in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act. Fandango denies that it violated any law but has agreed to the Settlement to avoid the expenses associated with continuing the case.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiffs or the Defendant should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to a Settlement. That way, they avoid the expenses associated with ongoing litigation, and Class Members will get compensation sooner rather than, if at all, after the completion of a trial.

The Settlement Class is defined as:

Fandango account holders in the United States who (1) watched any video content on Fandango’s website between April 1, 2020 to June 1, 2022; (2) were members of Facebook at the time they watched video content on Fandango’s website; and (3) used the same browser to access Facebook and watch video content on Fandango’s website.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are (1) any Judge or Magistrate presiding over this Action and members of their families; (2) the Defendant, its subsidiaries, parent companies, successors, predecessors, any entity in which the Defendant or its parents have a controlling interest, and current or former officers, directors, agents, attorneys, and employees thereof; (3) persons who properly execute and file a timely request for exclusion from the class; and (4) the legal representatives, successors or assigns of any such excluded persons.

Monetary Relief: Defendant has created a Settlement Benefit Cap totaling $6,000,000.00. All payments to Settlement Class Members, the cost to administer the Settlement, the cost to inform people about the Settlement, attorneys’ fees, and any service award to the Class Representative will also come out of this fund (see FAQ 13).

Prospective Changes: In addition to this monetary relief, the Settlement also requires Defendant to suspend operation of the Facebook Tracking Pixel on any pages on its website that both include video content and have a URL that substantially identifies the video content viewed, unless and until the VPPA is amended, repealed, or otherwise invalidated (including by judicial decision on the use of website pixel technology by the United States Supreme Court, any federal court of appeals, or any an state appellate court of general jurisdiction), or until Defendant obtains VPPA-compliant consent for the disclosure of the video content viewed to Facebook.

A detailed description of the settlement benefits can be found in the Settlement Agreement.

If you are member of the Settlement Class, you may submit a Claim Form to receive either a Cash Payment of $5 or a Movie Ticket Voucher of $15 for use on Fandango’s website. You may choose either the Cash Payment or Movie Ticket Voucher, but not both. You must submit a valid Claim Form in order to receive any compensation under the Settlement.

Final Approval was granted on December 4, 2023. Eligible Class Members whose claims were approved by the Settlement Administrator and selected the Cash Payment option will be issued their Cash Payment on or about January 15, 2024. The Cash Payment will be made in the form of a check and all checks will expire and become void 180 days after they are issued. Eligible Class Members whose claims were approved by the Settlement Administrator and selected the Movie Ticket Voucher option will receive their Movie Ticket Voucher via email on or about January 15, 2024. The Movie Ticket Voucher will expire on October 15, 2024.

As the October 30, 2023 deadline has passed, it is no longer possible to file a claim for a Cash Payment or Movie Ticket Voucher.

Unless you excluded yourself, If you are a Class Member, you have given up your right to sue Defendant for the claims this Settlement resolves. The Settlement Agreement describes the specific claims you have given up against the Defendant. You have “released” the Defendant and certain of its affiliates described in Section 1.25 of the Settlement Agreement. Unless you excluded yourself (see FAQ 14), you have “released” the claims, regardless of whether you submitted a claim or not. The Settlement Agreement is available here.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions (see Sections 1.27-1.29 and 3.1-3.2 of the Settlement Agreement), so read it carefully. If you have any questions you can talk to the lawyers listed in FAQ 12 for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

If you do nothing, you won’t get any benefits from this Settlement. But, unless you excluded yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendant for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

The Court has appointed Bursor & Fisher, P.A. to be the attorneys representing the Settlement Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” They believe, after conducting an extensive investigation, that the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer in this case, you may hire one at your expense.

Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses have been paid from the Settlement Benefit Cap in the amount of $1,900,000. This amount was determined and awarded by the Court. As approved by the Court, the Class Representatives have been paid incentive awards from the Settlement Benefit Cap for helping to bring and settle the case. The Class Representatives received $2,500.00 each as incentive awards.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement you must have mailed a written notice of intent to opt out by October 30, 2023. As this deadline has passed, it is no longer possible to opt out.

No. If you did not file a valid exclusion, you have given up any right to sue the Defendant for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

No. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for benefits.

To object to the Settlement, you must have submitted written notice in accordance with the instructions provided in the Settlement Agreement no later than October 30, 2023. As this deadline has passed, it is no longer possible to object to the Settlement.

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Class. Excluding yourself from the Class is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court held the Final Approval Hearing on December 4, 2023.

The Notice summarizes the Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement here. You may also write with questions to Fandango Privacy Settlement, P.O. Box 2319, Portland, OR 97208-2319. You can call the Settlement Administrator at 1-877-780-4416 or Class Counsel at 1-646-837-7150 if you have any questions. Before doing so, however, please read the full Notice carefully. You may also find additional information elsewhere on this website.