VPPA Litigation Update: California's Ruling In Video Game Context, D.C. Circuit's Take On Consumer Definition

Can buying a video game on a website using pixel technology make you a Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) plaintiff?

Not so fast, says the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In a recent decision, the court made it clear: simply purchasing a game doesn't unlock the door to a VPPA claim. Without a controlling U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit precedent, the court looked to other jurisdictions and held that plaintiffs must do more than just allege a game purchase—they need to show the game actually contains "cut scenes" or other prerecorded video content to even get in the game. In Garcia v. Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc., the court hit pause on a plaintiff's VPPA claim, finding no allegations of any qualifying video content. At the same time, the court stopped short of deciding whether simply alleging the presence of cut scenes in purchased video games would meet the VPPA's requirements in this jurisdiction, leaving that