By India McCarty
Get used to those Amazon Prime ads — a class action lawsuit accusing the streamer of misleading subscribers by charging extra for an ad-free viewing experience has been dismissed.
“The Court concludes that Amazon’s introduction of advertisements to Prime Video was not a price increase; it was a benefit modification, and such modification was specifically contemplated and authorized by the parties’ governing agreements,” U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein ruled, per The Hollywood Reporter.
A federal judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit accusing Amazon of cheating Prime Video users by adding ads unless they paid more.
“The Court concludes that Amazon’s introduction of advertisements to Prime Video was not a price increase; it was a benefit modification, and… pic.twitter.com/unt3gg6aoL
— Variety (@Variety) July 17, 2025
The original suit accused Amazon of false advertising, claiming it was deceiving Prime Video subscribers by adding commercials to all streaming. Subscribers are only able to go ad-free by paying an extra fee, in addition to their Prime Video subscription fee.
“For years, people purchased and renewed their Amazon Prime subscriptions believing that they would include ad-free streaming,” the lawsuit alleged, via Variety. “But last month, Amazon changed the deal.”
The suit continued, “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.”
Related: Amazon Moves to Dismiss Prime Video Lawsuit: ‘Never Promised’ It’d Always Be Ad-Free
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Wilbert Napoleon, a resident of Eastvale, California, and an Amazon Prime member. He claimed Amazon’s change to their ad-free plan violates Washington and California state consumer protection laws that prohibit unfair competition and deceptive business acts and practices.
However, Judge Rothstein ruled that this move “constituted a change in subscription benefits as opposed to a price increase,” per Deadline, explaining that subscribers enter into a contract with Amazon when they sign up for Prime. This contract gives Amazon the right to change the services provided at any time.
“It is true that Amazon’s introduction of commercials to its streaming service, for those Prime members who chose to pay more to keep their streaming ad-free, ultimately had an effect on those subscribers’ wallets tantamount to a ‘price increase,’” Judge Rothstein stated.
She added, “The Court, however, is compelled to maintain the distinction between a benefit removal and a price increase for several reasons. First, this distinction is repeatedly reinforced in the contracts themselves. Benefit modifications and removals are expressly authorized throughout both contracts; price increases are circumscribed and allowed only according to certain conditions. The expressly distinct treatment of these things makes little sense if one could turn a benefit removal into a price increase by simply recharacterizing it as such.”
While this new move from Amazon is frustrating for Prime Video subscribers, it looks like it won’t be changed any time soon.
Read Next: Frustrated With Amazon Prime’s Ads? Here’s How to Get Rid of Them
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