“This is why owning physical media is so important.”

Amazon prospects filed a class-action lawsuit after discovering that they had bought a viewing license, not the precise content material they meant to entry. The swimsuit accuses the huge company of a “bait and switch,” alleging it misled movie and TV lovers into pondering they might have assured everlasting entry to what they paid for.

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The information sparked widespread frustration with Amazon throughout social media over this observe and others.

The case: Did Amazon violate California regulation?

The lawsuit, filed by Lisa Reingold in California, challenges Amazon’s observe of utilizing the phrase “buy” while you hand over your money for a film or season of your favourite TV present on Prime. The positive print, nevertheless, explains what you’re really shopping for.

“You receive a license to the video and you agree to our terms,” it reads.

A license is just not the identical because the precise product. That license may find yourself being to nothing the second Amazon loses the rights to the content material, which occurs recurrently with streaming companies.

Reingold came upon about this actuality when she may not entry Bella and the Bulldogs — Volume 4 after shopping for it from Amazon for $20.79 in May.

The swimsuit argues that California regulation prohibits this underneath a digital property rights transparency regulation that went into impact in the beginning of 2025.

“The regulation declares that ‘it shall be unlawful for a seller of a digital good to advertise or offer for sale a digital good to a purchaser with the terms “buy,” “purchase,” or any other term which a reasonable person would understand to confer an unrestricted ownership interest in the digital good,’” it states.

Exceptions to the regulation require the vendor to make it clear to the client that they’re shopping for a license as an alternative of the digital good itself. Complainants argue that Amazon failed to fulfill these requirements.

“One of the biggest scams of the century”

The transition from proudly owning bodily copies of media to digital buying has repeatedly prompted frustration and anger amongst shoppers through the years.

Fans of the online game The Crew took writer Ubisoft to court in 2024 after the corporate withdrew digital assist. Angry players, unable to play what they paid for, accused Ubisoft of violating a number of California state legal guidelines.

That case is ongoing, as is irritation in opposition to giant firms for this type of observe.

“The prevalence of subscription-based services is one of the biggest scams of the century,” stated X person @movie_phan in a response to the brand new lawsuit. “You pay for something you never actually own. You pay for the right to borrow everything and end up with no assets.”

“Everything becomes a forever expense.”

“Death to digital ‘purchasing,’” declared @ohMyG00och. “Turn this up!!”

Others pointed to this as one more reason why proudly owning bodily copies of audiovisual works is changing into a brand new development.

“This is why owning physical media is so important; they can take away your digital purchases at any time,” wrote @Roems.

Plenty extra X customers took the chance to complain about one other current and reviled Amazon observe—foisting advertisements upon those that paid to not see them.

“Need to sue them for ads too,” stated @PoppaPetty74. “Considering they market Prime Video as a streaming service with no ads.”

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