Who is a Class Member
Class members of the Michigan TV Guide Subscriber Class Action Settlement include “all persons with Michigan street addresses who purchased a subscription to TV Guide Magazine or TV Weekly from TV Guide between October 26, 2009 and October 26, 2015.”
There are approximately 100,000 potential Class Members.
If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other class action settlements you may be eligible for.
Settlement Amount
- $1,700,000.00
Estimated Award
- $50 to $100
The amount of your payment will depend on how many of the Settlement Class Members file valid and timely claims. Class Counsel anticipates will be approximately $50–$100 per claimant.
Proof of Purchase
- N/A
Claim Form
Michigan TV Guide Subscriber Settlement Notes
- Higgins v. TV Guide Magazine LLC
- Case No. 2:15-cv-13769-SJM-MKM
- Pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Plaintiff Tom Higgins brought this class action lawsuit in June 2018 against TV Guide Magazine, alleging the company unlawfully disclosed its customers’ sensitive and protected information to third parties in violation of Michigan’s Preservation of Personal Privacy Act, a law often referred to as the Video Rental Privacy Act or VRPA. Higgins claims this information includes customers’ full names, home addresses, and reading habits.
TV Guide is a widely circulated publication that contains television programming information, celebrity gossip stories, television-related news, and other entertainment. Unfortunately for its subscribers, TV Guide supplements its sales and advertising revenues by secretly selling their statutorily protected information— including their full names, the title of the magazine they subscribed to, and home addresses to data miners and other unrelated third party companies.
Additionally, the TV Guide class action lawsuit contends that TV Guide also trades its subscribers’ personal information for the purpose of supplementing its customer files with other highly sensitive data about them, such as their age, health information (whether they’re healthy or sick), income level, employment status, purchasing habits, and other lifestyle information in order to increase the “street value” of its customer lists.
“In order to facilitate its surreptitious multi-million dollar disclosure business, TV Guide hides its practices from its subscribers, and neither notifies them nor obtains their permission before disclosing their Personal Reading Information to unrelated third parties,” the TV Guide lawsuit says.
The VRPA prohibits companies like TV Guide from disclosing—without written permission—any information that specifically identifies a person as having purchased written materials, such as magazines.
TV Guide denies it violated any law, but agreed to settle the case for $1.7 million. In addition to this monetary relief, TV Guide has also agreed to not disclose any Michigan subscriber information to any third-party companies without the prior express written consent of the Settlement Class members. Complete details about the case and settlement are provided on the Michigan TV Guide Subscriber Settlement website.
This past year, several Michigan subscriber privacy class action lawsuits have been settled with magazines, including a $1.1 million settlement with Rolling Stones, Men’s Journal and US Weekly. Another similar class action lawsuit against Trusted Media Brands, the publisher of Reader’s Digest was settled for $8.2 million. Both lawsuits also similarly alleged violations of Michigan’s VPRA and privacy statutes.
Class members who wish to exclude themselves or object to the terms of the TV Guide Settlement must do so by November 26, 2018. Class members who wish to participate in the settlement must submit their claim form on or before February 2, 2019.
Important Dates
- 2/2/19: Claim Form Deadline
- 11/26/18: Objection or Exclusion Deadline
- 12/19/18: Final Hearing at 10:00 am ET* (class members do not need to attend this hearing in order to receive a slice of the settlement pie).
Settlement Class Members who wish to speak at the hearing should check www.TVGuideSettlement.com to confirm that the date or time of the Hearing has not been changed.
Contact Information
- Mail: Magazine Subscriber Privacy Settlement, c/o Heffler Claims Group, PO Box 58129, Philadelphia, PA 19102-8129
- Phone: 1-877-852-8873
Class Counsel
- Eve-Lynn Rapp, Ari J. Scharg, and Schuyler R. Ufkes of Edelson PC
Settlement Website