Amazon sued over Prime Video price hike — what it means for you

Amazon Prime Video logo on a phone being held by someone
(Image credit: Kicking Studio/Shutterstock)

Prime Video made a lot of news when it announced that it was bringing ads to the streaming service. What had once been a nice benefit of having an Amazon Prime membership now had some strings attached.

The shift to ad-supported streaming started rolling out on January 29 in the U.S. and while most people are either paying the extra $2.99 a month to skip ads or just suffering through ads in silence, not everyone is going down without a fight. 

The logic here is that if you signed up for an Amazon Prime membership for an entire year — which many do since it saves you over $40 — then essentially Amazon changed the terms of your agreement with the company part way through the term, violating the terms of membership. 

Prime Video lawsuit — what it means for you

At the moment, there's nothing you need to do related to this lawsuit. The class action lawsuit is filed on behalf of all Prime Video customers affected throughout the U.S.

However, it is possible that you can have a Prime Video membership or Amazon Prime membership and not fall into the class. The legal argument here seems based on those who have year-long Amazon Prime memberships. So if you pay for your Amazon Prime membership monthly — or only have Prime Video, which is only offered as a standalone service in a monthly subscription — you might not be eligible for compensation.

Time will tell if this argument is successful in court, and if it does we'll be sure to report on it then. For now, this is a waiting game. But if you want to cancel Prime Video or cancel Amazon Prime, we've got you covered.

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Malcolm McMillan
Streaming Editor

Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made.