Calif. Says IMDb Age Info Not Protected By 1st Amendment

August 25, 2017Media Mention
Law360

Law360, New York (August 25, 2017, 3:46 PM EDT) -- California’s attorney general told a federal court judge on Thursday that IMDb’s inclusion of actors’ ages on its site is not protected by the First Amendment, with the Screen Actors Guild joining his push to deny the website a quick win in its suit over legislation meant to combat age discrimination.

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra said that state Assembly Bill 1687, which prevents online entertainment industry databases such as IMDb from including actors’ ages on their site does not restrict free speech, as the law is designed to regulate contractual business relationships such as those between IMDb and its subscribers. SAG-AFTRA agreed, arguing that the bill is a necessary step to tackle age discrimination in the entertainment industry, and that it would only have a limited impact on the site’s ability to publish news and information about actors and their film projects.

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