D.C. Circuit Narrows Who Qualifies as a “Consumer” Under the VPPA

To bring a claim under the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), a plaintiff must qualify as a “consumer,” which the statute defines as any renter, purchaser, or subscriber of goods or services from a video tape service provider. In Pileggi v. Washington Newspaper Publishing Company, LLC, the D.C. Circuit clarified that this definition requires a direct subscription to video content. Simply subscribing to another product or service, such as an email newsletter, does not suffice if the videos are offered separately on the company’s website. The plaintiff in Pileggi subscribed to the Washington Examiner’s newsletter, but her complaint alleged only that her viewing activity on the website’s videos was shared with a third party. It did not claim that the Washington Newspaper transmitted video c