Amazon Ebook Antitrust Case: Judge Recommends a 30 Million-Buyer Class

Will millions of Amazon ebook buyers get to sue Amazon as one group? A federal magistrate judge in New York has recommended that they should. In In re Amazon.com, Inc. eBook Antitrust Litigation (No. 1:21-cv-00351, S.D.N.Y.), Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein recommended granting the plaintiffs' motion for class certification. The plaintiffs' law firm, Hagens Berman, says the proposed class covers more than 30 million consumers.

The recommendation is not the final word. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods, who decides whether to adopt it, and Amazon has filed an objection.

How the recommendation reached the public docket

The court docket shows that Judge Gorenstein filed his report and recommendation under seal on August 10, 2026, concluding that the plaintiffs' motion for class certification "should be granted." Because the report drew on sealed material, he ordered Amazon to propose redactions, and a redacted version was then filed publicly. On September 8, Amazon filed its objection to the August 10 report, addressed to Judge Woods.

On September 9, Judge Gorenstein ruled on the parties' and publishers' sealing requests, granting some redactions and rejecting others, including Amazon's request to hide the names of the contracts at issue, and directed Amazon to file a new version of the redacted report on the public docket by September 30. The docket shows a redacted version of the August 10 report attached to a September 30 filing and a report and recommendation entry dated October 1. Hagens Berman announced the recommendation on October 2, describing an "Oct. 1, 2026, report and recommendation filing."

Who would be in the class

According to Hagens Berman, the class would include people who bought at least one trade ebook published by the Big Five (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster) through Amazon.com under the agency model, on or after January 14, 2017, through the date of class certification, and paid between $4.00 and $49.99. January 14, 2021, is the date the case was filed.

The firm says Judge Gorenstein's report also recommends appointing Hagens Berman and Sperling & Slater as co-lead class counsel.

What the plaintiffs allege

The lawsuit alleges that Amazon has anticompetitive agreements with the five largest ebook publishers that prevent their ebooks from being sold at lower prices on other retail platforms, and that Amazon used those agreements to keep its dominance in ebooks. Hagens Berman says the suit claims the agreements allow Amazon to charge a commission on ebook sales "that is at least 30% and higher than it would earn in a competitive market." These are allegations; no court has ruled on whether they are true.

What the report describes

Hagens Berman quotes the 35-page report on the plaintiffs' expert evidence:

• Damages model. Plaintiffs' expert Dr. Jamie McClave built a model from 658 million Amazon ebook transactions spanning nearly a decade. The report says she "determined that Amazon customers paid over $740 million more (in aggregate) for trade eBooks published by the Big Five than they would have in a competitive market." That is the plaintiffs' expert estimate, not a finding of liability.
• Market share. Another plaintiffs' expert, Wickelgren, puts Amazon's share "consistently within the range of 69-74%" throughout the class period, according to the report.
• Contract changes. The report describes Amazon replacing "Hybrid Seller of Record" contracts with "Tiered Seller of Record" contracts, after which, it says, "Amazon virtually stopped price-matching."

On the central legal question for certification, the firm quotes Judge Gorenstein: "In the end, because the antitrust damages model constructed by McClave is consistent with plaintiffs' theory of antitrust impact, plaintiffs have shown that common issues predominate in establishing antitrust damages."

"We are pleased with Judge Gorenstein's thorough read of this case," said Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens Berman.

Amazon's objection was filed partly under seal, and its arguments are not described here.

What happens next

Judge Woods will review the report and Amazon's objection and decide whether to certify the class. If he does, the case moves forward on behalf of the whole class rather than individual buyers.

Why it matters for authors

The case is brought by ebook buyers, not authors, and it covers Big Five agency-model ebooks, not self-published titles. But the evidence now on the public record goes to how Amazon priced and matched prices on the bestselling trade ebooks that indie books compete against. The report's description of Amazon moving to new contract terms and "virtually" stopping price-matching is the kind of detail publishers and authors watch closely, because it touches how ebook prices are set across stores. A certified class would also raise the stakes of the case for Amazon.

Sources

• U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. docket via CourtListener: In re Amazon.com, Inc. eBook Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:21-cv-00351
• Court order, August 10, 2026: Order on filing of the Report and Recommendation (Docket #406)
• Court order, September 9, 2026: Order on motions to seal (Docket #417)
• Hagens Berman: Court Overseeing Amazon E-Books Monopoly Lawsuit Recommends Class Certification of 30 Million Consumers (October 2, 2026)