I. STATEMENT OF IDENTITY AND INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE
Amicus curiae Entertainment Software Association (“Amicus ESA”) is a not-for-profit U.S. trade association serving companies that manufacture video game equipment and create software for game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. One of Amicus ESA’s missions is to advocate for the U.S. video game industry on issues including global content protection, intellectual property, technology, e-commerce, and consumer-facing digital regulations in support of interactive software publishers. Amicus ESA’s members include many of America’s leading video game companies, innovators, creators, publishers, and business leaders that are reimagining entertainment and transforming how we interact, learn, connect, and play.
ESA has a substantial interest in the resolution of this case. The Court’s interpretation of the Video Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2710 (“VPPA”) will directly affect privacy compliance obligations and litigation exposure for companies throughout the video game industry, including ESA’s members.
Modern interactive products, such as video games, often incorporate trailers, clips, and other embedded video content as part of a broader gameplay or user experience. An expansive interpretation of the VPPA could therefore expose ordinary game-related products and services to sweeping liability based not on the product the consumer actually obtained, but on the mere presence of video content within a broader interactive experience.
That risk is significant. Video games are a mainstream form of entertainment in the United States, with more than 205 million Americans playing them regularly.3 The video game industry is also a major and growing contributor to the U.S. economy and, ultimately, to consumers.4 Amicus ESA and its members therefore have an interest in this case because this Court’s interpretation of the VPPA’s scope will have a significant impact on video game publishers, developers, and distributors.
Amicus ESA submits this brief in support of Respondent Paramount Global, d/b/a 247sports
(“247Sports”) because Petitioner Michael Salazar (“Petitioner”) and other plaintiffs in similar lawsuits seek to impose far-reaching VPPA liability on digital subscriptions, video games, and other interactive media—and, in doing so, to reshape the Act to achieve an application far beyond its text and historical focus.
