In an opinion today, Judge Engelmayer dismissed all claims brought by retired Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau against the makers of the “30 for 30” documentary about the Jets 1980 defensive line, colloquially known as the “New York Sack Exchange.” Gastineau’s main grievance was that the documentary misleadingly portrayed a tense interaction with Brett Favre, who Gastineau accuses of taking a “dive” in 2001 so that Giants defensive end Michael Strahan could eclipse Gastineau’s single-season sack record.  According to Gastineau, the incident was deceptively edited to omit context showing that, in fact, he harbored no animosity towards Favre.

Continue Reading Judge Engelmayer: Former “New York Sack Exchange” Defensive End Cannot Sue Over Allegedly Misleading ESPN Documentary

This morning, Judge Abrams dismissed a purported class action against Disney Interactive for alleged violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”), a 1988 privacy law that was passed after Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork’s video rental history became public.  According to the plaintiff, Disney had disclosed “personally identifiable information” to a third party data analytics firm (Adobe, a non-party), who was then able to use the information to identify specific users and the Disney Channel videos they watched on a Roku device.
Continue Reading Judge Abrams: ’80s Law About Video Rental Privacy Does Not Cover Anonymous, Streaming TV Data