Amazon Must Face Jury on Direct and Vicarious Copyright Claims Over Merch on Demand
Amazon will have to defend its Merch on Demand print-on-demand service before a jury. In an opinion and order dated 14 October 2026, Judge Douglas R. Cole of the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio denied Amazon summary judgment on direct and vicarious copyright infringement claims brought by apparel company Weekend Warrior Clothing, while granting Amazon judgment on contributory infringement (Case No. 1:23-cv-752).
According to IPWatchdog's report, Weekend Warrior says third-party creators uploaded copies of its humorous T-shirt designs to Merch on Demand, leading to about 560 accused listings and more than 20,000 orders between 2020 and 2025. Under the service, creators upload artwork, while Amazon creates the listings, sets prices, manufactures and ships the products and pays the creator a royalty.
The judge found that a jury could see Amazon as more than a passive host, because it is so involved in making and selling the goods; he compared it to a print shop that advertises and sells copies of customers' images. The vicarious claim survived because Amazon can remove listings and earns money on each sale. The court was also critical of how Amazon's system flagged the plaintiff's infringement notices as fraudulent and routed later emails to the trash, which kept Amazon's DMCA safe harbour defence alive for trial. Contributory infringement failed, applying the US Supreme Court's 2026 decision in Cox Communications v. Sony Music Entertainment, because there was no evidence Amazon encouraged infringement. The plaintiff's own summary judgment motion was also denied, as Amazon raised questions about whether some designs reused earlier material.
For print-on-demand and marketplace operators in Asia, the decision shows that the more a platform controls production and sale, the harder it becomes to argue that it is only a conduit.
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