Amazon Moves to Dismiss Prime Video Lawsuit: ‘Never Promised’ It’d Always Be Ad-Free
Movieguide® Contributor
Amazon was sued in February over its introduction of ads, but now the company is looking to dismiss the case with the claim that it “never promised — to Prime members or anyone else — that Prime Video would be always, or entirely, ad-free.”
“In the Oct. 4 filing, the ecommerce giant pointed to its terms and conditions, which note that Amazon may ‘choose in its sole discretion to add or remove Prime membership benefits,’” Variety reported Oct. 7.
Movieguide® reported on the lawsuit in February:
“Wilbert Napoleon, who brought forth the lawsuit in the interest of all Amazon Prime customers said they were led to believe by Amazon’s ‘false and misleading’ advertisements that they would have ‘ad-free access to tv shows and movies,’ according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington state on Feb. 9,” USA Today reported.
“The change in terms, the lawsuit alleges, violates consumer protection laws in California and Washington which prohibits a company from engaging in ‘unfair’ or ‘deceptive’ business acts and practices,” USA Today said.
Napoleon renewed his Prime subscription in June 2023, ahead of Amazon implementing a $2.99 fee for ad-free streaming. Although he had already paid for his year-long subscription, Napoleon began seeing ads after Amazon’s policy change on Jan. 29, which he stated was “unfair.”
Amazon said it has “always” maintained that Prime benefits are subject to change.
“The Prime Video users who are suing Amazon ‘got exactly what they bargained for,’ Amazon’s motion to dismiss said. ‘One Prime benefit is access to Prime Video, a world-class streaming service with a massive library of movies, shows, and other digital content, including award-winning original and exclusive content.’ In December 2023, Amazon announced to all Prime members that, beginning 30 days later, some Prime Video movie and TV shows would also include ‘limited advertisements,’” Variety reported.
Nonetheless, the lawsuit’s plaintiffs feel Amazon has been deceptive.
“For years, people purchased and renewed their Amazon Prime subscriptions believing that they would include ad-free streaming,” the lawsuit said. “But last month, Amazon changed the deal. To stream movies and TV shows without ads, Amazon customers must now pay an additional $2.99 per month…This is not fair, because these subscribers already paid for the ad-free version; these subscribers should not have to pay an additional $2.99/month for something that they already paid for.”
“Amazon claimed that the plaintiffs ‘know that their claims under the Prime Terms are dead-on-arrival — as other courts (including in this District) have repeatedly held — because the contract expressly provides that some Prime benefits might change over time.’ So instead the plaintiffs ‘cite the separate Prime Video Terms of Use (‘Prime Video Terms’), which cover some aspects — but, importantly, not all aspects — of Plaintiffs’ use of Prime Video.’”
However, Amazon said none of the five plaintiffs signed up for the Prime Video-only subscription.
“Even if the Prime Video Terms were germane, they do not prohibit subscription fee increases; to the contrary, they expressly allow fee increases and give Prime Video subscribers the option to cancel to avoid the higher fee,” Amazon said.
The suit seeks a reward of at least $5 million and a court order to bar Amazon from participating in further deceptive practices.
This is the third major lawsuit against Amazon in the last four years.
Last year, the FTC sued with the accusation that Amazon tricked consumers into signing up for its Prime service and then hindered them from canceling subscriptions. In 2020, consumers sued over unfair competition and false advertising regarding Amazon’s right to remove customers’ access to content they purchased through Prime Video.
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