GameSpot CIPA Settlement Website

A Court authorized the Notice because you have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all your options, before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

The Honorable Rita F. Lin, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is overseeing this case. The case is called Shah v. Fandom, Inc., Case No. 3:24-cv-01062-RFL. The person who has sued is called the Plaintiff. The Defendant is Fandom, Inc.

In a class action, one or more people called the class representatives (in this case, Vishal Shah and Jayden Kim) sue on behalf of a group or a “class” of people who have similar claims. In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

This lawsuit alleges that Defendant, Fandom, Inc., installed and used three trackers--the GumGum Tracker, Audiencerate Tracker, and TripleLift Tracker (the “Trackers”)--on Website visitors’ internet browsers, without consent and in violation of Section 638.51(a) of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”). The Defendant denies it violated any law. The Court has not determined who is right. Rather, the Parties have agreed to settle the lawsuit to avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiff or the Defendant should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to a Settlement. That way, they avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation, and Class Members will get compensation sooner than, if at all, after the completion of a trial.

The Settlement Class is defined as:

All persons who accessed www.gamespot.com and its subdomains (the “Website”) in California and had their IP address collected by the Trackers from January 5, 2023, to and including December 16, 2025.

Defendant has created a Settlement Fund totaling $1,200,000.00. Settlement Class Member payments, the cost to administer the Settlement, the cost to inform people about the Settlement, attorneys’ fees, and an award to the Class Representative will also come out of this fund (see FAQ 13).

If you are member of the Settlement Class, you may submit a Claim Form to receive a portion of the Settlement Fund. The amount of this payment will depend on how many of the Settlement Class Members file valid claims. Each Settlement Class Member who files a valid claim will receive a proportionate share of the Settlement Fund.

The Court granted final approval of the Settlement on May 19, 2026. If the Court approves the settlement, eligible Settlement Class Members whose claims were approved by the Settlement Administrator will receive their payment 90 days after the Settlement has been finally approved and/or any appeals process is complete. The payment will be made in the form of a check, unless you elect to receive payment by PayPal or Venmo, and all checks will expire and become void 180 days after they are issued.

The deadline to submit submit a Claim Form to receive a payment was April 16, 2026 and has passed.

If the Settlement becomes final, you will give up your right to sue Defendant for the claims this Settlement resolves. The Settlement Agreement describes the specific claims you are giving up against the Defendant. You will be “releasing” the Defendant and certain of its affiliates described in Section 1.23 of the Settlement Agreement. Unless you exclude yourself (see FAQ 14), you are “releasing” the claims, regardless of whether you submit a Claim Form or not. The Settlement Agreement is available on the Documents page.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully. If you have any questions you can talk to the lawyers listed in FAQ 12 for free, or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

If you do nothing, you won’t get any benefits from this Settlement. Unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendant for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

The Court has appointed the law firm of Bursor & Fisher, P.A. to be the attorneys representing the Settlement Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” They believe, after conducting an extensive investigation, that the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. You will not be charged for this lawyer. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer in this case, you may hire one at your expense.

Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses will be paid from the Settlement Fund in an amount determined and awarded by the Court. Class Counsel is entitled to seek no more than one-third of the $1,200,000.00 Settlement Fund, but the Court may award less than this amount.

As approved by the Court, the Class Representative will be paid an incentive award from the Settlement Fund for helping to bring and settle the case. The Class Representative will seek no more than $5,000.00 as an incentive award, but the Court may award less than this amount.

The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement was March 17, 2026, and has passed.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue the Defendant for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

No. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for benefits.

The deadline to object to the Settlement was March 17, 2026, and has passed.

Objecting simply means telling the Court you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself from the Settlement Class is telling the Court you don’t want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court granted final approval of the Settlement on May 19, 2026. A copy of the Order is here .

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. You are welcome to come at your own expense. If you send an objection or comment, you don’t have to come to Court to talk about it. If you filed and mailed your written objection on time, the Court will consider it. You may also pay another lawyer to attend, but it’s not required.

The Final Approval Hearing was held on May 19, 2026, and the Court granted final approval of the Settlement on May 19, 2026.

The Notice summarizes the proposed Settlement. For the precise terms of the Settlement, please see the Settlement Agreement available under the Documents page, by contacting Class Counsel at info@bursor.com, by accessing the Court docket in this case, for a fee, through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays.

PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE TO INQUIRE ABOUT THIS SETTLEMENT OR THE CLAIM PROCESS.