Dynamic Accident Lawyers: Hollywood Studios, Netflix Face DVD Captioning Class Action Lawsuit

closed-captioned Movie and television studios including The Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios and Netflix face a potential class action lawsuit over allegations that the film makers mislead deaf or hard of hearing customers into buying DVDs that are not fully subtitled or captioned.

Lead plaintiff Christine Anthony, along with eight other plaintiffs, filed the DVD captioning class action lawsuit after she allegedly purchased movies advertised as having hearing-impaired subtitles including The Avengers, Iron Man, Princess Diaries, and Thor. Anthony claims that the song lyrics in those films were not subtitled. The other plaintiffs list similar complaints.

The DVD class action lawsuit claims that captions allow viewers to follow the content of a film visually if they are unable to do so aurally. Anthony alleges that DVDs are marketed in a way that does not indicate that the captions are limited in any way.

According to the closed captioning class action lawsuit, English subtitles should make visible the words on the movie or show for viewers to read. In addition to song lyrics, Anthony also says the captions should include additional information such as “doorbell ringing,” “explosion,” or “applause.”

The DVD captioning class action lawsuit states that hearing-impaired customers are likely to be deceived by the advertising that movies are subtitled. Anthony claims that she along with putative Class Members always check to see if a movie is captioned before purchasing or renting it.

The captioning class action lawsuit states, “While the dialogue of some movies or shows are indeed fully subtitled, the practice of not submitting song/music lyrics is frustratingly widespread.” Anthony alleges that failure to caption music lyrics excludes deaf or hard of hearing consumers from being able to fully enjoy the movie or show. The DVD class action lawsuit claims that music is often used to explain the theme of the show and can be crucial to the plot.

Anthony states that the Defendants usually justify the lack of captioning music by claiming that it is due to a lack of copyrights but this is entirely without legal merit. The DVD class action lawsuit claims that the U.S. judicial system has made it clear that reproducing copyrighted material for the purpose of making the material accessible for persons with disabilities is considered “fair use.”

The DVD closed captioning class action lawsuit claims that film makers violate unfair competition law as plaintiffs are entitled to equal and full access to the movies or shows purchased or rented.

The DVD class action lawsuit also alleges that the multiple defendants are in breach of implied warranty as potential Class Members rely upon the misrepresentations of closed captioning and have been damaged by paying for movies that were not fully subtitled.

If approved, the captioning class action lawsuit will be open to all U.S. Class Members who have any hearing loss and who purchased a ticket to view a movie in a theater that was advertised as having English subtitles. The DVD class action lawsuit will also include Class Members who purchased or rented a mislabeled DVD that stated it contained captioning.

According to the DVD captioning class action lawsuit, hearing-impaired individuals constitute 10 percent of the U.S. population.

The plaintiffs are represented by John A. Girardi of Girardi Keese.

The DVD Captioning Class Action Lawsuit is Christine Anthony, et al. v. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, et al., Case No. BC598251, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

We tell you about cash you can claim EVERY WEEK! Sign up for our free newsletter.

Email*
State*
selectAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingArmed Forces AmericasArmed Forces EuropeArmed Forces Pacific

jQuery(document).ready(function($){gformInitSpinner( 5, ‘http://topclassactionscom.c.presscdn.com/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.gif’ );jQuery(‘#gform_ajax_frame_5’).load( function(){var contents = jQuery(this).contents().find(‘*’).html();var is_postback = contents.indexOf(‘GF_AJAX_POSTBACK’) >= 0;if(!is_postback){return;}var form_content = jQuery(this).contents().find(‘#gform_wrapper_5’);var is_confirmation = jQuery(this).contents().find(‘#gform_confirmation_wrapper_5’).length > 0;var is_redirect = contents.indexOf(‘gformRedirect(){‘) >= 0;var is_form = form_content.length > 0 && ! is_redirect && ! is_confirmation;if(is_form){jQuery(‘#gform_wrapper_5’).html(form_content.html());setTimeout( function() { /* delay the scroll by 50 milliseconds to fix a bug in chrome */ jQuery(document).scrollTop(jQuery(‘#gform_wrapper_5’).offset().top); }, 50 );if(window[‘gformInitDatepicker’]) {gformInitDatepicker();}if(window[‘gformInitPriceFields’]) {gformInitPriceFields();}var current_page = jQuery(‘#gform_source_page_number_5’).val();gformInitSpinner( 5, ‘http://topclassactionscom.c.presscdn.com/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.gif’ );jQuery(document).trigger(‘gform_page_loaded’, [5, current_page]);window[‘gf_submitting_5’] = false;}else if(!is_redirect){var confirmation_content = jQuery(this).contents().find(‘#gforms_confirmation_message_5’).html();if(!confirmation_content){confirmation_content = contents;}setTimeout(function(){jQuery(‘#gform_wrapper_5’).replaceWith(” + confirmation_content + ”);jQuery(document).scrollTop(jQuery(‘#gforms_confirmation_message_5’).offset().top);jQuery(document).trigger(‘gform_confirmation_loaded’, [5]);window[‘gf_submitting_5’] = false;}, 50);}else{jQuery(‘#gform_5’).append(contents);if(window[‘gformRedirect’]) {gformRedirect();}}jQuery(document).trigger(‘gform_post_render’, [5, current_page]);} );} ); if(typeof gf_global == ‘undefined’) var gf_global = {“gf_currency_config”:{“name”:”U.S. Dollar”,”symbol_left”:”$”,”symbol_right”:””,”symbol_padding”:””,”thousand_separator”:”,”,”decimal_separator”:”.”,”decimals”:2},”base_url”:”http:\/\/topclassactions.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/gravityforms”,”number_formats”:[],”spinnerUrl”:”http:\/\/topclassactions.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/gravityforms\/images\/spinner.gif”};jQuery(document).bind(‘gform_post_render’, function(event, formId, currentPage){if(formId == 5) {gformInitChosenFields(‘#input_5_2′,’No results matched’);} } );jQuery(document).bind(‘gform_post_conditional_logic’, function(event, formId, fields, isInit){gformInitChosenFields(‘#input_5_2′,’No results matched’);} ); jQuery(document).ready(function(){jQuery(document).trigger(‘gform_post_render’, [5, 1]) } );

Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association

american-bar-association