The Regional Court of Cologne has deemed the price increases of a large US streaming service as invalid. The judges made their decision on Friday, stating that the increases in the years 2017, 2019 and 2022 were not lawful. The provider must now refund the overpaid amounts since 2019, as the court announced.
A customer who had subscribed since 2014 filed the lawsuit. The service had raised the prices several times, with the latest being 17.99 Euros per month. The court deemed the amendment clauses as an unfair disadvantage for the customers. However, it rejected the claim for the years 2017 and 2018 as being time-barred.
The verdict is already legally binding and affects the Dutch subsidiary of the streaming provider that markets the service in Germany. The decision could have implications for similar cases.