FCC Motion May Bolster Redbox Closed Captioning Class Action Lawsuit

In light of a recent class action lawsuit accusing Redbox and Verizon of falsely advertising that Redbox streaming movies are closed captioned, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted unanimously to require program creators and distributors to give their best efforts when making closed captioning available to consumers. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler stated that this was not a casual suggestion, and that a standard should be required and established.

Wheeler went on to say that this unanimous decision was merely the beginning of a new movement. Wheeler signaled that the he and the FCC were going to make an effort to help the disabled community, by insuring that all media distribution centers created access to telecommunications for any disabled person. For now, Wheeler and the FCC will focus on the deaf and blind in particular.

Due to the recent legal attention closed captioning has been receiving, this issue was brought up again in a petition that was filed by members of the disabled community, demanding the improvement of closed captions. The petition demanded a video on demand (VOD) captioning standard, and notice to bring those responsible for the accuracy of closed captioning in question. This 1997 order included requests such as closed captions that could turned on or off, and would make program distributors, broadcasters and cable operators responsible for the closed captioning. This order has been officially adopted by the FCC, with implementation to begin shortly.

As reported in other news sources, the new standard will require video programming distributors to make their best efforts to ensure that closed captions are accurate, synchronous, complete, and do not complicate important information. As of now, this standard is only required for videos presented on the big screen or television. For now, the new policy does not include video clips. The item recommends that broadcasters improve their captioning of news and news interviews as well.

During the FCC hearing, two speakers from the public came to make their statements. One was a student from a local elementary school, and the other was an advocate for the deaf. The student spoke of the hardships of being unable to hear her television shows and being unable to be able to discuss them with friends. The other speaker was Claude Stout, the executive director of Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. He called the motion a historical pivotal movement for the deaf and blind. Stout, Wheeler, and the rest of the FCC are optimistic for the future of closed caption policy.

Redbox Closed Captioning Lawsuit

This FCC motion brings hope to a man in California who is suing Redbox for violating the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and false advertising law. Plaintiff Francis Janick, a deaf customer, wants to be able to watch movies through Redbox, and enjoy the company’s DVD and Blu-ray offerings available at various Redbox kiosks. However, he alleges that the company has not provided reasonable accommodation to the deaf and hard-of-hearing customers by failing to provide closed captioning. Janick also alleges that some Redbox movies falsely advertised that they had closed captioning when they did not actually have the feature.

The Redbox class action lawsuit further alleges that the company misrepresented its content as accessible per the ADA. Upon accessing the streaming video and other services, many people have discovered that they cannot access English subtitles, which is allegedly a violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law.

This Redbox closed captioning lawsuit is Francis Jancik v. Redbox Automated Retail LLC, et al., Case No. 13-cv-01387, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Join the Redbox Closed Captioning Class Action Lawsuit

You may be eligible to join a Free Redbox class action lawsuit investigation and pursue compensation for damages related to false advertising and ADA violations if you’re deaf or hard of hearing and meet one or all of the following criteria:

• You are a subscriber to or purchased a streaming movie from Redbox Instant
• The video was not Closed Captioned
• The video was falsely advertised as Closed Captioned

For more information, visit the Redbox Movies Closed Captioning Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. When you fill out the form, an ADA lawyer will review your claims for free and contact you if you qualify to join a class action lawsuit.