While we were praising Crunchyroll for licensing over 50 shows this fall, a lawsuit focused on user privacy was creeping up on this company. The class action lawsuit alleged that Crunchyroll violated the United States’ Video Privacy Protection Act by disclosing subscribers’ personally identifiable information to Facebook and other third-party companies.
Beltran and others filed the class action lawsuit in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in September 2022.
In response, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Crunchyroll denied the claim but have decided to settle “to avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with continuing the case.”
Crunchyroll settled with Beltran and others on September 15 in a class action lawsuit. If you’ve accessed Crunchyroll’s platform in the United States between 2020 and 2023, you might be eligible for a payout.
According to the Kroll Settlement Administration, the following Crunchyroll subscribers are eligible for the payout:
“You are included if you are a Person in the United States who, from September 8, 2020 through September 20, 2023, (1) was a registered user of an online website, mobile app, or any video-on-demand service or app owned, controlled, and operated by Crunchyroll; and (2) viewed videos on an online website, mobile app, or any video-on-demand service or app owned, controlled, and/or operated by Crunchyroll.”
All the eligible users can either submit the claim form by December 12, 2023, or exclude themselves from the settlement. You can also choose to object to the settlement, but you need to do this by November 27, 2023.
This case is going to impact the brand image of Crunchyroll. All the fans will no longer feel safe accessing this site to watch their favorite anime. This is an unfortunate development for Crunchyroll since the company was indeed on a roll this year, and this setback will cause much damage.
Let’s wait and watch to see how the situation will unfold.
Source: Kroll Settlement Administration
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