diff --git a/internal/presenter/packages/json_distribution.go b/internal/presenter/packages/json_distribution.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 5ba939c03..000000000
--- a/internal/presenter/packages/json_distribution.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-package packages
-
-import "github.com/anchore/syft/syft/distro"
-
-// JSONDistribution provides information about a detected Linux JSONDistribution.
-type JSONDistribution struct {
-	Name    string `json:"name"`    // Name of the Linux distribution
-	Version string `json:"version"` // Version of the Linux distribution (major or major.minor version)
-	IDLike  string `json:"idLike"`  // the ID_LIKE field found within the /etc/os-release file
-}
-
-// NewJSONDistribution creates a struct with the Linux distribution to be represented in JSON.
-func NewJSONDistribution(d *distro.Distro) JSONDistribution {
-	if d == nil {
-		return JSONDistribution{}
-	}
-
-	return JSONDistribution{
-		Name:    d.Name(),
-		Version: d.FullVersion(),
-		IDLike:  d.IDLike,
-	}
-}
diff --git a/internal/presenter/packages/json_document.go b/internal/presenter/packages/json_document.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 399d037ae..000000000
--- a/internal/presenter/packages/json_document.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
-package packages
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal"
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/version"
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/distro"
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
-)
-
-// JSONDocument represents the syft cataloging findings as a JSON document
-type JSONDocument struct {
-	Artifacts             []JSONPackage      `json:"artifacts"` // Artifacts is the list of packages discovered and placed into the catalog
-	ArtifactRelationships []JSONRelationship `json:"artifactRelationships"`
-	Source                JSONSource         `json:"source"`     // Source represents the original object that was cataloged
-	Distro                JSONDistribution   `json:"distro"`     // Distro represents the Linux distribution that was detected from the source
-	Descriptor            JSONDescriptor     `json:"descriptor"` // Descriptor is a block containing self-describing information about syft
-	Schema                JSONSchema         `json:"schema"`     // Schema is a block reserved for defining the version for the shape of this JSON document and where to find the schema document to validate the shape
-}
-
-// NewJSONDocument creates and populates a new JSON document struct from the given cataloging results.
-func NewJSONDocument(catalog *pkg.Catalog, srcMetadata source.Metadata, d *distro.Distro, scope source.Scope, configuration interface{}) (JSONDocument, error) {
-	src, err := NewJSONSource(srcMetadata, scope)
-	if err != nil {
-		return JSONDocument{}, err
-	}
-
-	artifacts, err := NewJSONPackages(catalog)
-	if err != nil {
-		return JSONDocument{}, err
-	}
-
-	return JSONDocument{
-		Artifacts:             artifacts,
-		ArtifactRelationships: newJSONRelationships(pkg.NewRelationships(catalog)),
-		Source:                src,
-		Distro:                NewJSONDistribution(d),
-		Descriptor: JSONDescriptor{
-			Name:          internal.ApplicationName,
-			Version:       version.FromBuild().Version,
-			Configuration: configuration,
-		},
-		Schema: JSONSchema{
-			Version: internal.JSONSchemaVersion,
-			URL:     fmt.Sprintf("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anchore/syft/main/schema/json/schema-%s.json", internal.JSONSchemaVersion),
-		},
-	}, nil
-}
-
-// JSONDescriptor describes what created the document as well as surrounding metadata
-type JSONDescriptor struct {
-	Name          string      `json:"name"`
-	Version       string      `json:"version"`
-	Configuration interface{} `json:"configuration,omitempty"`
-}
-
-type JSONSchema struct {
-	Version string `json:"version"`
-	URL     string `json:"url"`
-}
diff --git a/internal/presenter/packages/json_package.go b/internal/presenter/packages/json_package.go
deleted file mode 100644
index a2ea899dd..000000000
--- a/internal/presenter/packages/json_package.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,71 +0,0 @@
-package packages
-
-import (
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
-)
-
-// JSONPackage represents a pkg.Package object specialized for JSON marshaling and unmarshaling.
-type JSONPackage struct {
-	ID           string            `json:"id"`
-	Name         string            `json:"name"`
-	Version      string            `json:"version"`
-	Type         string            `json:"type"`
-	FoundBy      string            `json:"foundBy"`
-	Locations    []source.Location `json:"locations"`
-	Licenses     []string          `json:"licenses"`
-	Language     string            `json:"language"`
-	CPEs         []string          `json:"cpes"`
-	PURL         string            `json:"purl"`
-	MetadataType string            `json:"metadataType"`
-	Metadata     interface{}       `json:"metadata"`
-}
-
-func NewJSONPackages(catalog *pkg.Catalog) ([]JSONPackage, error) {
-	artifacts := make([]JSONPackage, 0)
-	if catalog == nil {
-		return artifacts, nil
-	}
-	for _, p := range catalog.Sorted() {
-		art, err := NewJSONPackage(p)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		artifacts = append(artifacts, art)
-	}
-	return artifacts, nil
-}
-
-// NewJSONPackage crates a new JSONPackage from the given pkg.Package.
-func NewJSONPackage(p *pkg.Package) (JSONPackage, error) {
-	var cpes = make([]string, len(p.CPEs))
-	for i, c := range p.CPEs {
-		cpes[i] = c.BindToFmtString()
-	}
-
-	// ensure collections are never nil for presentation reasons
-	var locations = make([]source.Location, 0)
-	if p.Locations != nil {
-		locations = p.Locations
-	}
-
-	var licenses = make([]string, 0)
-	if p.Licenses != nil {
-		licenses = p.Licenses
-	}
-
-	return JSONPackage{
-		ID:           string(p.ID),
-		Name:         p.Name,
-		Version:      p.Version,
-		Type:         string(p.Type),
-		FoundBy:      p.FoundBy,
-		Locations:    locations,
-		Licenses:     licenses,
-		Language:     string(p.Language),
-		CPEs:         cpes,
-		PURL:         p.PURL,
-		MetadataType: string(p.MetadataType),
-		Metadata:     p.Metadata,
-	}, nil
-}
diff --git a/internal/presenter/packages/json_presenter.go b/internal/presenter/packages/json_presenter.go
deleted file mode 100644
index cbdc4d107..000000000
--- a/internal/presenter/packages/json_presenter.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-package packages
-
-import (
-	"encoding/json"
-	"io"
-
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/distro"
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
-)
-
-// JSONPresenter is a JSON presentation object for the syft results
-type JSONPresenter struct {
-	catalog     *pkg.Catalog
-	srcMetadata source.Metadata
-	distro      *distro.Distro
-	scope       source.Scope
-}
-
-// NewJSONPresenter creates a new JSON presenter object for the given cataloging results.
-func NewJSONPresenter(catalog *pkg.Catalog, s source.Metadata, d *distro.Distro, scope source.Scope) *JSONPresenter {
-	return &JSONPresenter{
-		catalog:     catalog,
-		srcMetadata: s,
-		distro:      d,
-		scope:       scope,
-	}
-}
-
-// Present the catalog results to the given writer.
-func (pres *JSONPresenter) Present(output io.Writer) error {
-	// we do not pass in configuration for backwards compatibility
-	doc, err := NewJSONDocument(pres.catalog, pres.srcMetadata, pres.distro, pres.scope, nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	enc := json.NewEncoder(output)
-	// prevent > and < from being escaped in the payload
-	enc.SetEscapeHTML(false)
-	enc.SetIndent("", " ")
-	return enc.Encode(&doc)
-}
diff --git a/internal/presenter/packages/json_presenter_test.go b/internal/presenter/packages/json_presenter_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 9620c2da7..000000000
--- a/internal/presenter/packages/json_presenter_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
-package packages
-
-import (
-	"flag"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
-)
-
-var updateJSONGoldenFiles = flag.Bool("update-json", false, "update the *.golden files for json presenters")
-
-func must(c pkg.CPE, e error) pkg.CPE {
-	if e != nil {
-		panic(e)
-	}
-	return c
-}
-
-func TestJSONDirectoryPresenter(t *testing.T) {
-	catalog, metadata, dist := presenterDirectoryInput(t)
-	assertPresenterAgainstGoldenSnapshot(t,
-		NewJSONPresenter(catalog, metadata, dist, source.SquashedScope),
-		*updateJSONGoldenFiles,
-	)
-
-}
-
-func TestJSONImagePresenter(t *testing.T) {
-	testImage := "image-simple"
-	catalog, metadata, dist := presenterImageInput(t, testImage)
-	assertPresenterAgainstGoldenImageSnapshot(t,
-		NewJSONPresenter(catalog, metadata, dist, source.SquashedScope),
-		testImage,
-		*updateJSONGoldenFiles,
-	)
-}
diff --git a/internal/presenter/packages/json_relationship.go b/internal/presenter/packages/json_relationship.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 326e4a4a5..000000000
--- a/internal/presenter/packages/json_relationship.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-package packages
-
-import "github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
-
-type JSONRelationship struct {
-	Parent   string      `json:"parent"`
-	Child    string      `json:"child"`
-	Type     string      `json:"type"`
-	Metadata interface{} `json:"metadata"`
-}
-
-func newJSONRelationships(relationships []pkg.Relationship) []JSONRelationship {
-	result := make([]JSONRelationship, len(relationships))
-	for i, r := range relationships {
-		result[i] = JSONRelationship{
-			Parent:   string(r.Parent),
-			Child:    string(r.Child),
-			Type:     string(r.Type),
-			Metadata: r.Metadata,
-		}
-	}
-	return result
-}
diff --git a/internal/presenter/packages/json_source.go b/internal/presenter/packages/json_source.go
deleted file mode 100644
index d0c2a477f..000000000
--- a/internal/presenter/packages/json_source.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-package packages
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
-)
-
-// JSONSource object represents the thing that was cataloged
-type JSONSource struct {
-	Type   string      `json:"type"`
-	Target interface{} `json:"target"`
-}
-
-type JSONImageSource struct {
-	source.ImageMetadata
-	Scope source.Scope `json:"scope"`
-}
-
-// NewJSONSource creates a new source object to be represented into JSON.
-func NewJSONSource(src source.Metadata, scope source.Scope) (JSONSource, error) {
-	switch src.Scheme {
-	case source.ImageScheme:
-		return JSONSource{
-			Type: "image",
-			Target: JSONImageSource{
-				Scope:         scope,
-				ImageMetadata: src.ImageMetadata,
-			},
-		}, nil
-	case source.DirectoryScheme:
-		return JSONSource{
-			Type:   "directory",
-			Target: src.Path,
-		}, nil
-	default:
-		return JSONSource{}, fmt.Errorf("unsupported source: %q", src.Scheme)
-	}
-}