The Ninth Circuit has affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of IMDb.com, a website that lists, among other things, the actual ages of actors and actresses. At issue was whether a 2016 California law (Assembly Bill 1687), which prohibits commercial online services from publishing actors' ages without their consent, is constitutional. The law was undoubtedly the best thing to happen to Hollywood since the invention of BOTOX. The statute required database sites like IMDb to remove an actor's age if requested, with the stated goal of preventing age discrimination in casting. In the lawsuit, IMDb argued successfully that the law violated the First Amendment by "chill[ing] free speech and undermin[ing] public access to factual information" without actually addressing age discrimination.
IMDb.com Inc. v. Becerra, 962 F.3d 1111 (9th Cir. 2020)
Dark Day For Hollywood – Law Prohibiting Online Publication Of Actors' Ages Is Struck Down
Originally published 31 July, 2020
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