Deacon v. Pandora Media, Inc.

901 F. Supp. 2d 1166, 2012 WL 4497796, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142045
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedSeptember 28, 2012
DocketCase No. C 11-04674 SBA; Docket No. 20
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 901 F. Supp. 2d 1166 (Deacon v. Pandora Media, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Deacon v. Pandora Media, Inc., 901 F. Supp. 2d 1166, 2012 WL 4497796, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142045 (N.D. Cal. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

SAUNDRA BROWN ARMSTRONG, District Judge.

Plaintiff Peter Deacon (“Plaintiff’) brings the instant putative action on behalf of himself and other residents of Michigan who use the internet radio services of Defendant Pandora Media, Inc. (“Pandora”). He alleges that Pandora improperly disclosed his “private” music preferences and other information to the public and his Facebook “friends” in violation of Michigan’s Video Rental Privacy Act (“VRPA”), Michigan Compiled Laws (“MCL”) § 445.1712, and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (“MCPA”), MCL § 445.903. Plaintiff alleges subject matter jurisdiction based on diversity. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Venue is proper, as Pandora resides in this District. See id. § 1391(b)(1).

The parties are presently before the Court on Defendant Pandora’s Motion to Dismiss, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Dkt. 20. Having read and considered the papers filed in connection with this matter and being fully informed, the Court hereby GRANTS the motion to dismiss with leave to amend, for the reasons set forth below. The Court, in its discretion, finds this matter suitable for resolution without oral argument. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 78(b); N.D. Cal. Civ. L.R. 7-1(b).

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Summary

Pandora operates an internet radio service through its website located at www. pandora.com. Compl. ¶¶ 2-4, Dkt. 1. Pandora’s service allows its subscribers to create their own, customized “radio stations” based on the subscriber’s selected preferences. Id. ¶ 3. For instance, a subscriber may enter the name of a particular artist [1169]*1169or song, which Pandora then uses to create a station based on artists or songs with similar attributes. Id. ¶ 3.1 The songs selected by Pandora are then streamed to the subscriber’s computer. Id. Pandora claims that its technology utilizes the “intrinsic qualities of music to initially create stations and then adapts playlists in real-time based on the individual feedback of each listener.” Id. ¶ 4 n. 1. Use of Pandora is free, though a premium version of Pandora service without advertisements is available for a fee. See Def.’s Mot. at 2 n. 3, Dkt. 30; Pandora Form S-l Reg. Stmt. (“S-l Reg. Stmt.”) at 46 (filed Feb. 1, 2011 (http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/ 1230276/000119312511032963/dsl. htm# tocll9636_10, last accessed Aug. 28, 2012)).

To facilitate the streaming process, Pandora “temporarily store[s] a digital copy of the song” on the subscriber’s computer. Id. ¶ 20. The file remains on the subscriber’s computer until the song has finished playing, at which time it is automatically deleted by Pandora. Id. Pandora’s Terms of Use, with which all subscribers must abide as a condition to use Pandora’s service, make clear that subscribers do not have any ownership rights to the music Pandora streams for playback and that they cannot download any of the songs. Id. ¶¶ 24, 31. In particular, section 3.2 of Pandora’s Terms of Service specifies that subscribers shall not “copy, store, edit, change, prepare any derivative work of or alter in any way any of the tracks streamed through the Pandora Services,” while section 3.1 prohibits subscribers from “reproducing] copyrighted materials.” Sterry Decl. Exs. A-I (“Terms of Service”), Dkt. 20-1. In addition, songs cannot be purchased from Pandora, though Pandora provides links to Apple’s iTunes service and/or Amazon.com where subscribers may purchase the song being played from those vendors. Compl. ¶ 21.

When subscribers sign up for a Pandora account, a “Personal Page” is automatically created for them. Id. ¶ 23. The page contains the subscriber’s full name, profile information, recent “station,” recent activity, listening history, bookmarked tracks and bookmarked artists (collectively “Protected Information”). Id. Although Pandora claims that Protected Information is available only to other registered Pandora subscribers with knowledge of the particular subscriber’s unique email address, such information allegedly is “publically available and searchable on the World Wide Web for anyone to view.” Id. ¶ 6. In addition, on April 21, 2010, Pandora unilaterally integrated its subscribers’ profile pages with their Facebook accounts. Id. ¶ 7. As a result, a Pandora subscriber’s Facebook “friends” allegedly are now able to access “sensitive listening records” and “musical preferences” from the Pandora subscriber’s profile. Id.

B. Procedural History

Plaintiff commenced the instant putative class action in this Court on September 20, 2011. The Complaint asserts two causes of action. First, Plaintiff alleges that the disclosure of subscribers’ Protected Information to other Pandora and non-Pandora subscribers violates the VRPA. See Compl. ¶¶ 44-46. Second, Plaintiff contends that Pandora has violated the MCPA by disclosing his Protected Information to his Facebook contacts. See id. ¶ 52-54. [1170]*1170Plaintiff purports to bring both claims on behalf of the following Class and Subclass:

The Disclosure Class: A class consisting of all Michigan residents who registered as users or subscribers of Pandora’s services before August 5, 2010.
The Facebook Disclosure Subclass: A subclass consisting of all Michigan residents whose Pandora account was automatically integrated with a Facebook account before August 5, 2010.

Id. ¶ 35. As relief, Plaintiff seeks statutory damages under the VRPA in the amount of $5,000 per class member. Id. ¶¶ 9, 48. With respect to his claim under the MCPA, Plaintiff seeks “an injunction requiring Pandora to cease its unlawful conduct.” Id. ¶ 55.

In response to the Complaint, Pandora now moves to dismiss Plaintiffs claims under Rule 12(b)(6). Dkt. 20. Pandora first contends that Plaintiff has failed to allege facts showing that he suffered an injury-in-fact, and hence, subject matter jurisdiction is lacking.2 With regard to the sufficiency of the claims, Pandora argues that Plaintiffs claim under the VRPA should be dismissed for failure to establish that it is engaged in the business of “selling at retail, renting, or lending ... sound recordings!].]” MCL § 445.1712. Likewise, Pandora contends that Plaintiff has failed to state a claim under the MCPA on the grounds that its conduct is authorized by law, and that Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that he has prudential standing to sue for injunctive relief on a class basis. Plaintiff and Defendant filed an opposition and a reply, respectively. Dkt. 26, 30. The matter has been fully briefed and is ripe for adjudication.3

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Rule 12(b)(1)

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), a complaint may be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
901 F. Supp. 2d 1166, 2012 WL 4497796, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142045, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deacon-v-pandora-media-inc-cand-2012.