The State of California is moving forward to enforce a law which declares it illegal for IMDbPro, the entertainment news portal, to publish the ages of actors. In response to the law, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled against the law regarding the entertainment news site.
According to LA Weekly, at the start of the year IMDb filed a federal lawsuit against Kamala Harris, the then-California Attorney General. The lawsuit sought for an injunction to halt the enforcement of law AB 1687 which took full effect on 1 Jan.
Judge Vince Chhabria today found enough evidence to rule in favor of the injunction. He is stated to have said, "it's difficult to imagine how AB 1687 could not violate the First Amendment". He also added that the government failed to portray the necessity of the the bill in regards to prevention of age discrimination in Hollywood.
In his ruling he wrote, "Accordingly, the government is enjoined from enforcing AB 1687 while this lawsuit is pending." According to Deadline, the response to today's ruling in the U.S. District Court for the North District of California by SAG-AFTRA came quickly. Signed into law last September, one of the major proponents of the guild was SAG-AFTRA.
The SAG-AFTRA COO expressed their disappointment over the temporary halting of the State of California's legal efforts by the court. These legal efforts were stated to be in effect to fully protect the citizens of the state from employment discrimination."
General counsel Duncan Crabtree-Ireland agreed with the statement. The duo stated their enthusiasm in finding an upcoming opportunity to provide evidence to the Court in regards to how the law in question will reduce if not eliminate the age discrimination facilitated by IMDb.com.
The crafting of AB 1687 was done narrowly in order to apply only to the "commercial online entertainment employment providers" that charge fee for subscription akin to how IMDbPro does.
