Publishing content on Prime Video requires several
key deliveries.
In this video, we’ll focus on content rights: what
they are, why they matter, and how to submit them.
Let’s get started.
Content rights — also called avails — are the licensing
and contractual details that authorize Prime Video
to publish your content.
When delivering via bulk file delivery, these rights
are submitted using the EMA Avails Specification —
an industry-standard format we will cover in this
tutorial.
Think of it as the permission slip that tells our
system where, when, and how your content can be made
available to customers.
Content rights define three core elements: the territory
where your content can be published, the time period
during which it can be live, and the business model —
such as subscription, transactional, or free.
Our system is fully automated.
Once your content rights are ingested, the system
takes titles live and removes them based on the dates
and terms you provide.
No one is doing this manually.
EMA stands for Entertainment Merchants Association.
The EMA Avails Specification is an industry-standard
used across major streaming platforms — not unique
to Prime Video.
Content rights following the EMA format can be submitted
as an Excel file through bulk file delivery, or as
JSON through the Avails API.
The content of this tutorial dives into the Excel
file.
Prime Video provides a sample file that covers all
business types: movies, TV, and value-added material
such as trailers.
You will customize this sample file based on your
specific business line.
For example, if you only publish movies, you can remove
the TV and Value-Added Material tabs.
Let’s look at the key information you will provide
in your avails file.
We can organize this into a simple framework: Who,
What, Where, When, and How.
The “Who” indicates Your Display Name — this is the
vendor alias that identifies your account in our system,
and it is provided by Prime Video.
The “What” determines the Work Type and unique identifiers.
For TV content, this includes series, season, and
episode IDs.
Each line item also requires an ALID — a unique identifier
that links the rights to the correct content asset.
This is the same Content ID referenced in MEC and
MMC.
The “Where” specifies the Territory — the country
or region where the content can be published.
The “When” shows the Start and End dates in UTC format.
You can also use “Open” if there is no end date.
The “How” indicates the License Type — such as EST
or VOD for transactional, SVOD for subscription, or
FVOD for free content.
For transactional titles, you will also provide the
Format Profile — HD, SD, or 4K — along with pricing
information.
The “How” also indicates the Entry Type, which tells
the system what action to take: Full Extract means
you are creating or updating rights.
Full Delete means you are removing them.
The sample file covers all business lines, but there
are important differences to be aware of.
For Channels and SVOD content, you only need episode-level
line items.
The highest format quality you deliver applies to
all lower formats automatically.
You will also need a Group Identity — this is the
Benefit ID that identifies your channel in a specific
territory.
For Transactional content — TVOD — you need separate
line items for series, season, and each episode.
You must also specify the format profile and pricing
for each line item, since customers can purchase HD,
SD, or 4K individually.
For Value-Added Material, you can assign an FVOD license
type to make them freely available to customers.
Once your avails file is ready, you will upload it
through your configured delivery method.
The file will appear in the Delivery tab on Slate,
where you can monitor its status.
After successful ingestion, the information flows
into our rights management system and creates offers
on the storefront.
If you need to make changes — for example, updating
a start date or cancelling a title — simply modify
your avails file and re-submit it with the updated
information.
Then, simply verify updated content rights through
the Delivery tab in Slate.
You can also download reports from Slate to verify
your ingested content rights and identify any errors
that need correction.
To recap: Content Rights are the foundation of your
publishing workflow on Prime Video.
Without valid, ingested avails, titles cannot go live
on the storefront.
Use the EMA Avails sample file, customize it for your
business, and deliver it through your configured method.
Additionally, the Avails API allows you to review
and manage your submitted content rights programmatically.
For detailed field definitions and the latest sample
files, visit the Content Rights page on our Slate
Support Guide.
That is all for now.
Thank you for watching.
