Austin Martin
89 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 768
Amazon has revolutionized consumer shopping by providing a marketplace platform that connects consumers to third-party producers selling millions of products. Amazon reaps tremendous financial benefits from the sale of third-party products over its platform but incurs very little responsibility when defective third-party products harm consumers. In recent cases, Amazon has routinely avoided strict product liability by structuring its business model such that it no longer meets legal definitions of “seller” or “distributor.” Although plaintiffs and scholars argue that Amazon fits these definitions, the debate focuses too heavily on legal technicalities and fails to uphold commonly accepted policy goals behind traditional product liability: victim compensation, efficient cost spreading, and product safety. To accomplish these goals, this Note proposes that state legislatures adopt marketplace product liability, a novel framework holding Amazon and other online product marketplaces liable for injuries arising from defective third-party products. The proposed framework is justified as a form of gatekeeper liability and is modeled on the two-pronged approach to vicarious copyright infringement. Where a defective product sold by a third-party vendor through Amazon causes injury, Amazon should be liable to the injured consumer where Amazon (1) had the right and ability to control third-party vendor access to its platform and (2) received a direct financial benefit from the transaction between a consumer and third-party vendor for the third-party product.
