Overview
- The Bayerisches Oberstes Landesgericht dismissed the Verbraucherzentrale Sachsen's collective damages suit, ruling the introduction of ad breaks was permitted by Prime Video's user terms.
- The court said Prime Video's contracts did not promise an ad-free service and found the consumer group failed to show the service had been marketed as ad-free.
- Judges also blocked inclusion of customers who paid the €2.99 ad-free option because their claims were not judged “essentially similar” under the Verbraucherrechtedurchsetzungsgesetz, a procedural rule that limits mass claims.
- More than 300,000 customers had joined the Sammelklage, but the group announced it will immediately seek revision at the Bundesgerichtshof while separate cases, including a December 2025 Munich ruling and a pending disgorgement (Abschöpfungsklage) aiming to reclaim ad and add-on revenues, continue.
- The ruling leaves millions of subscribers in legal uncertainty and could set a key precedent about when platforms may add ads to existing subscriptions, with final clarity likely to take years if the Federal Court decides to hear the appeals.