Crunchyroll scandal simplified: what’s this settlement about and should you make a claim?

Call for attention to Crunchyroll users! While you were busy watching your favourite anime, your worst nightmare might’ve turned into reality, all thanks to your “go-to” streaming platform for anime. In the year 2022, Crunchyroll was sued for sharing the private data of its subscribers. The actions of the streaming platform didn’t only infringe on the privacy of its users but also violated the United States Video Privacy Protection Act. 

A settlement has been reached in the case and you might be entitled to compensation. With that, there’s a lot to unpack. This article covers the entire Crunchyroll Scandal in a simplified way. 

Crunchyroll Scandal Simplified: Everything you need to know

• In 2022, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Crunchyroll for sharing users’ data with third-party apps including Meta’s Facebook. A class-action lawsuit is filed when a group is being represented in the court by one of its members. The group in question here is the subscribers of Crunchyroll. 
• The data that has been shared is supposedly the anime-watching history of the subscribers. As Crunchyroll is owned by Sony Group Corporation, Sony also has a direct involvement in the lawsuit.
• Sony and Crunchyroll claimed that they didn’t share any such data and a settlement was reached instead of dragging the lawsuit any further. Under the Settlement, the streaming platform will pay around $16 Million. 
• The subscribers of Crunchyroll can file a claim and get paid a part of the settlement fund. It is to be noted that a sum of $30K out of $16 Million will be distributed equally among all the users who file a claim. 

With that, this is the Crunchyroll Scandal in a nutshell. But what is in it for you? Are you eligible to file a claim? Let’s find out. 

Will you get the due compensation? How to file a claim?

As a user, you have certain rights. They include: 

• Filing a claim: By filing a claim, you will get paid as a user if you’re eligible under the lawsuit. Under the eligibility criteria, you need to be from the United States and must have a Crunchyroll Subscription from September 8th, 2020 to September 30, 2023. If you’re eligible you can file a claim through this website. It has to be noted that you can only file a complaint till December 12th, 2023. 
• Excluding yourself from the settlement: By excluding yourself from the settlement you’ll be sparing yourself of your potential share of the settlement fund. At the same time, you’ll hold onto your rights to hire a lawyer and sue Crunchyroll if you want. For excluding, the deadline is November 27th. 
• Objecting: If you have any objections to how the lawsuit was settled, you can send your objections to the court.  You need to object before November 27th. 
• Objecting in person during the Final Approval hearing: Another way to object is to be present at the court during the final hearing. You can state your objections in the court. 

Other than these options, you can also do nothing. But if you do that, you neither get paid nor you can sue Crunchyroll. So you better take action while you still can. 

Is there a better deal out there for you in the Crunchyroll Scandal?

The extent of information that was being shared is stated to be the history of your anime-watching experience on the platform. While this is quite awful in itself for the fans of Rent-a-Girlfriend, is that really all they shared? If you have a shred of doubt, you can exclude yourself from the settlement and sue Crunchyroll with your lawyers.

With this, you’ll unlock a new option. You can get paid more but that will only be possible if you win the court case. You shouldn’t forget that fighting a lawsuit in court and hiring lawyers against such a huge corporation will exhaust all of your life savings (unless you’re a millionaire). 

Conclusion 

To sum it up, Crunchyroll shared your embarrassing anime-watching history with third-party apps and got sued for it. They have to pay a settlement fund of $16 Million and if you’re a subscriber you can get a small share of the whopping amount. But only if you watch anime legally. I never knew that watching anime legally can be quite rewarding, but not without a humble sacrifice of your privacy. 

This whole fiasco might have given you a bad aftertaste as an anime fan. No worries, the Spiel Anime Newsletter is here to cleanse your palette. It comes in cool designs with all things anime and only the cultured fans of anime are worthy of the fun exploration of the world of anime.