Finally, a reason to prefer vinyl or Bluetooth over streaming services that doesn’t make you sound like a Hipster or a Luddite — it is a lot easier to know that you actually own physical media. You may have noticed that entertainment providers like Amazon will give you the option of buying or renting films on the website. The intuitive assumption is that renting is cheaper because your access to it is limited, but if you buy a video offered by the streaming service it is yours forever. Well, not really — and that could be misleading enough to justify going to court over. Hollywood Reporter has coverage:
On Friday, a proposed class action was filed in Washington federal court against Amazon over a “bait and switch” 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.
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Lisa Reingold, who filed the lawsuit, says she bought Bella and the Bulldogs — Volume 4 on Amazon in May for $20.79 but soon lost access to the title. It’s not an uncommon occurrence, similarly affecting consumers across digital stores, like those hosted by Apple and Google. If you bought Downton Abbey through Amazon as the five seasons came out from 2010 to 2015, you’d no longer have them by 2024.
Now that you’ve processed what you’ve just read, I’ll give you 5 or so minutes to see if that season of Teen Titans you bought on Amazon is still in your library. Back? I’m either happy for you or sorry for your loss.
Is it false advertisement to market a lease agreement as a bona fide “Buy”? While I can’t speak for Lisa personally, renting Bella and the Bulldogs for a month at $20.79 is a much harder sale than actually buying it for that price — and I could understand why someone would be baffled to discover the season they just bought disappeared from their TV. And while the purchase didn’t seem to go in her favor, California consumer protection laws are a lot more amenable to her arguments. If you live in the Golden State, this could be prime time to get in on that Prime money.
You Don’t Actually Own That Movie You Just “Bought.” A New Class Action Lawsuit Targets Amazon [Hollywood Reporter]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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