“Turn this up!!”: Class action lawsuit filed by Amazon customers who discovered they don’t own the media they “bought”

Amazon customers filed a class-action lawsuit after discovering they had purchased a viewing license, not the actual content they intended to access. The suit accuses the massive corporation of a “bait and switch,” alleging it misled film and TV lovers into thinking they would have guaranteed permanent access to what they paid for.

The case: Did Amazon violate California law?

The lawsuit, filed by Lisa Reingold in California, challenges Amazon’s practice of using the word “buy” when you hand over your cash for a movie or season of your favorite TV show on Prime. The fine print, however, explains what you’re actually buying.

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

A license is not the same as the actual product. That license could end up being to nothing the moment Amazon loses the rights to the content, which happens regularly with streaming services.

Reingold found out about this reality when she could no longer access Bella and the Bulldogs — Volume 4 after buying it from Amazon for $20.79 in May.

The suit argues that California law prohibits this under a digital property rights transparency law that went into effect at the beginning of 2025.

“The law 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 law require the seller to make it clear to the customer that they’re buying a license instead of the digital good itself. Complainants argue that Amazon failed to meet these standards.

“One of the biggest scams of the century”

The transition from owning physical copies of media to digital purchasing has repeatedly caused frustration and anger among consumers over the years.

Fans of the video game The Crew took publisher Ubisoft to court in 2024 after the company withdrew digital support. Angry gamers, unable to play what they paid for, accused Ubisoft of violating multiple California state laws.

That case is ongoing, as is irritation against large corporations for this kind of practice.

“The prevalence of subscription-based services is one of the biggest scams of the century,” said X user @movie_phan in a response to the 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 another reason why owning physical copies of audiovisual works is becoming a new trend.

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

Plenty more X users took the opportunity to complain about another recent and reviled Amazon practice—foisting ads upon those who paid not to see them.

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

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