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Therrien v. Hearst Television, Inc. — 1st Cir. (Sep 14, 2026)

No. 25-1487 Argued September 14, 2026 Published September 20, 2026

Charles Therrien says Hearst Television violated federal video-privacy law through its WMUR News 9 app. He gave the app his email address, enabled location services, requested news and weather alerts, and watched local-news videos. The app sent Braze and Google combinations of his email, location, device identifiers, and article identifiers. The law generally bars disclosures linking a person to specific videos, subject to an ordinary-business exception. A district judge entered summary judgment for Hearst, ending the case without a trial. The judge found the retained location point and advertising IDs insufficient to identify Therrien, and treated the email transfer as processing requested alerts. The appeal asks whether the combined data could let a jury identify Therrien and his video choices, and whether tailored messages were marketing outside the exception. The United States supports neither side and intervened to defend the law's constitutionality.

Therrien v. Hearst Television, Inc. (No. 25-1487) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, argued September 14, 2026.

Sources
Argument audio — U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (public domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105):https://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/sites/ca1/files/oralargs/25-1487_20260914.mp3
Argument listing — U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit:https://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/doar/results/2026-09
September 2026 argument calendar — U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit:https://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/sites/ca1/files/calendar.pdf?simple=True
Summary-judgment order — U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, mirrored by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly:https://masslawyersweekly.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2025/05/02-236-25.pdf
Current appellate docket — Justia (PACER-derived):https://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca1/25-1487
Video Privacy Protection Act — U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel:https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=2023&req=granuleid%3AUSC-2023-title18-chapter121
Yershov v. Gannett — U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit:https://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/15-1719P-01A.pdf
Max S. Roberts — Bursor & Fisher:https://www.bursor.com/team/max-roberts/

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