When you buy a movie digitally, you’re not technically buying that product but rather a license for viewing access to that product for a limited time.
That license can be updated, replaced with a different version, or even removed if the company you bought it from loses the rights to the film altogether.
Does that mean a company like Amazon should be able to say a consumer is ‘buying’ that movie?
That is a subject of a proposed class action filed in Washington federal court against Amazon reports THR.
The suit claims a ‘bait and switch’ approach is used in which the company allegedly “misleads consumers into believing they’ve purchased content when they’re only getting a license to watch, which can be revoked at any time”.
More specifically, the accusation is that Amazon is “misrepresenting the nature of movie and TV transactions during the purchase process.”
However, the fine print on the confirmation page of Amazon digital purchases reportedly does say: “You receive a license to the video and you agree to our terms”.
The lawsuit claims violations of unfair competition, false advertising and consumer legal remedies laws. It seeks unspecified damages and punitive damages for allegedly intentionally malicious conduct.
The issue came up in the California legislature in 2023 over the Ubisoft game “The Crew” which led to the recent birth of the ‘Stop Killing Games’ movement.
More and more people are already getting wise to this, which has led to a resurgence in the demand for physical media.
