Class Action Argues Amazon Does Not Actually Own Digital Content It ‘Sells’ to Consumers

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A proposed class action contends that Amazon has misled New York consumers by providing the option to “buy” certain music, movie and television show content even though the company does not own and merely licenses the material. 

The 22-page lawsuit argues that the licensing arrangements between Amazon and the owners of the digital movie, music and TV content on its website and Prime Video app mean that, unlike a true sale, Amazon “can never pass title of any licensed Digital Content it claims to be selling consumers.” 

The suit adds that when a licensing agreement terminates for whatever reason, Amazon would then be required to pull the content from a buyer’s “purchased” folder or music library “without prior warning” or, according to the case, any type of refund. 

“In other words, unlike a Best Buy or Target store that obtains title from a Digital Content’s owner that it then conveys to a purchaser for value, Defendant’s licensing arrangements prevent it from ever being able to pass title to Digital Content it claims it ‘sells’ to consumers. Moreover, Defendant’s sale of Digital Content, which it does not actually own, is made more egregious because, as demonstrated below, Amazon charges just as much for that content, at times even more so, than stores that actually transfer title of the Digital Content to its customers, which access can never be revoked.” 

As the lawsuit tells it, Amazon “misrepresents” the true nature of its digital content “sales” to consumers because calling the transactions what they actually are, a “sub-licensing agreement,” would not allow the company to charge as much as it does. 

The complaint additionally argues that in representing a consumer’s purchase of digital content as them transacting for true ownership of the material, Amazon has taken advantage of “cognitive shortcuts” at the point of sale—namely, the difference between the words “rent” and “buy” and the price of the content, as digital media that’s “bought” tends to be more expensive on the retailer’s platforms. 

The case says that while some consumers “may get lucky” and keep access to their digital content bought from Amazon, others “may one day find that their Digital Content is now gone forever.” Included in the filing is a screenshot of an anecdote from Reddit in which a consumer stated that a horror film he reportedly “bought” from Amazon and had in his possession for a few years was one day marked “unavailable,” and that Amazon had no record of him ever having made the purchase. 

According to the case, the Reddit user’s situation is “not new news” for Amazon, as word of the company’s ability to pull digital content from consumers at any time has existed for nearly a decade. 

“The value of the Digital Content that Plaintiffs and the Class members purchased and consumed was materially less than its value as represented by Defendant,” the suit states. 

The case echoes a proposed class action filed last October against Apple, wherein a consumer alleged the company could never truly pass the title of ownership of certain digital content purchased through the iTunes store to buyers. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all persons who bought digital content—movies, music, and television or cable shows—from Amazon in New York within the applicable statute of limitations period. The lawsuit was initially filed in New York on November 19, 2021 before being transferred to Washington District Court on April 6, 2022. 

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