The settlement comes in response to allegations that AMC illegally shared subscribers' viewing history with tech companies like Google, Facebook, and X (aka Twitter) in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA).
It was originally passed to protect individuals' right to private viewing habits, after a journalist published the mostly unrevealing video rental history of a judge, Robert Bork, who had been nominated to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan.
The so-called "Bork Tapes" revealed little—other than that the judge frequently rented spy thrillers and British costume dramas—but lawmakers recognized that speech could be chilled by monitoring anyone's viewing habits.
In addition to distributing the $8.3 million settlement fund among class members, subscribers will receive a free one-week digital subscription.
Patreon said that the law was enacted "for the express purpose of silencing disclosures about political figures and their video-watching, an issue of undisputed continuing public interest and concern."
And the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has already moved to convince the court to reject Patreon's claim, describing the VPPA in a blog as an "essential" privacy protection.
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