Crunchyroll may owe you $30. Why? A class action lawsuit
Users have until December to claim their share
If you’re an anime fan in the US, chances are good that you’ve used the Crunchyroll streaming service to get the latest shows. If so, then you may be entitled to compensation thanks to a class action suit brought against the company in a US District Court in Illinois. After settling out of court, Crunchyroll subscribers could get a small payment from the company.
The class action suit came about after Crunchyroll was accused of disclosing subscribers’ personal information to third parties without consent. This runs afoul of privacy laws in the US so Crunchyroll quickly decided to settle before the lawsuit went to trial despite insisting that it had not done anything wrong. Court documents reveal that eligible users will get a portion of the $30,000 settlement amount, provided they apply by the deadline.
Before you get your hopes up, that $30,000 is the total amount of damages that Crunchyroll has to pay to their subscribers, meaning that eligible users will probably get somewhere in the range of $30 each, which equates to around three months of the basic subscription package.
To be eligible for payment, you must be a resident of the United States who was a registered user of the Crunchyroll app, website, or “any video-on-demand service or app owned, controlled, and/or operated” by the company between 8 September 2020 and 20 September 2023 and used that app, website, or service to view videos such as the more than 1000 episodes of One Piece currently available.
If you are one of these eligible users, you should receive an email from the Kroll Settlement Administration in the coming weeks and will need to file a claim via their online claim form by 12 December to receive your payment.
Wondering what other TV shows are on the horizon? We have a handy guide to help you keep track of every officially announced show on broadcast and streaming services.
