You don't own your digital media

[Teelie]

This right here is why I buy a physical copy of every movie, game, book or music I own. If I buy it, not rent it, I am not going to lose it because some company or license agreement expires and decides to take it away.

Have you been ditching your physical media library for a digital one from a major VOD library and feel reasonably safe in the knowledge those films will always be available? Think again.

Twitter user Anders G. da Silva (drandersgs) has found himself in a few stories today after he tweeted that he lost three digital movies bought on the iTunes Store in Canada. da Silva wrote to Apple to complain about the missing movies, Apple wrote back saying: “the content provider has removed these movies from the Canadian Store. Hence, these movies are not available in the Canada iTunes Store at this time.”

Apple didn’t offer da Silva a refund, instead they reportedly gave him two credits for renting a movie on the iTunes Store. When he told them he was not in the market for rentals, they tried to appease him with two more rental credits.

The case goes to the heart of the issue with digital ownership in that while you seemingly own your digital films, you don’t really own them – you’re only licensing them. A combination of lapsing license agreements and endless Terms of Service contracts mean some titles can just disappear and you’ve no real recourse – a problem that applies to books, films, shows, music and software on multiple services including Amazon and iTunes.

Dark Horizons via LifeHacker

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I know this, so I enjoy the luxury of physical media more and more.

 

[Iceman]

Quite a horrible though that an entire digital library could disappear along with the provider company going bankrupt.

 

[NHawk19]

There's also nothing for you to re-sell later. Digital markets wipe out secondary sales, so old CDs, vinyl, books, etc don't exist after the digital "purchase", and you really have nothing of value for your money. For collectors this also means there's no increase in value down the line.

I like physical copies for that reason. Spend 10 bucks on a digital version that can disappear, or 12 on one you can keep and later maybe re-sell for the difference between the 2. It also provides the outside chance that it could become collectable and increase in value over time. Digital simply can't do that.

 

[terry78]

The kids are all about the downloads. Some of the more hipster types are into physical music and games and movies I guess. Distributors are trying their best to phase them out though.

 

[Teelie]

If they phase out physical copies then try and lease out digital ones instead of allowing proper ownership you can expect that piracy will definitely skyrocket as soon as something someone "leased" suddenly disappears from their digital library.

 

[NHawk19]

From their point of view it makes sense though. The cost of manufacturing, and most of the distribution goes away, except for servers and an e-store. You record digitally, edit digitally, dump to a thumb drive, and put it in the store for download. Also since the secondary market is eliminated everyone has to pay the price the studio commands, to the studio instead of a re-seller if they want it. No more used CD stores for half price

It also means as collections evolve or change, you may need to re-purchase for a new device, or they can create code to limit how many times it can be copied etc.

 

[Teelie]

Yeah, if you think in the short term and have massive arrogance. Like I said though if they think piracy is a problem now, just wait until they start trying to force people to repurchase digital content they already bought once before and then remotely erased once the license was up or they decide it's more profitable to rip people off.

 

[Iceman]

There is a convenience aspect also to having everything digitally and being able to access your entire collection of films, music, games, books etc from anywhere. It just seems it's on very shaky ground if the company you're getting it from goes bust or if they change their T&Cs later down the line.

 

[Iceman]

Yeah, if you think in the short term and have massive arrogance. Like I said though if they think piracy is a problem now, just wait until they start trying to force people to repurchase digital content they already bought once before and then remotely erased once the license was up or they decide it's more profitable to rip people off.

People would be so resistant to that that they would fight back for sure.

 

[Dr.]

I know next to nothing about this stuff. So… are digital copies generally cheaper than physical media? If there were decent savings, I could see being tempted by (and taking the chance with) digital. But if it’s more-or-less the same price, then physical seems like a no-brainer.

 

[terry78]

It's about convenience. If you buy a CD the album is about the same price online, though somtimes they do discounts and speicals.

 

[Teelie]

I know next to nothing about this stuff. So… are digital copies generally cheaper than physical media? If there were decent savings, I could see being tempted by (and taking the chance with) digital. But if it’s more-or-less the same price, then physical seems like a no-brainer.

It really depends on the product. Some stuff is cheaper digitally and some of it is more expensive. Usually digital is slightly cheaper but not substantially. Occasionally a digital purchase is more expensive because one thing or another, usually having to do with how hard it would be to find a physical copy or if licensing problems arise. Usually that is with books though.

 

[Marvolo]

Technically you dont own your physical library either. Not entirely. When you buy any media (movie game music) you're buying the license to use that media. But because of End User License agreements the publisher retains rights over the product and can dictate how that product is used. This is the case for physical and digital media and has been for a long time. That's why they can tell you you can't have theatrical viewing parties of their movies with your own physical copy of their movie. For example, if you had a viewing party of 20+ people at your house and advertised it a studio could shut that **** down if they wanted to. Fox has done this with viewing parties of 35 mm screenings of A New Hope. They can do it with bluray screenings. Or any other format.

It's easier for them to exercise their right to the product with digital media but there are ways to do it with physical media as well. For example, bluray players require updates to function properly with certain discs. It was a real problem in the early days of bluray. People would buy discs and they'd be entirely unplayable in certain bluray players. Some discs wouldnt work at all until the player was updated with a firmware patch. The studios and bluray player manufacturers didnt always get those patches out in a timely manner. Nor did they have to. They could let some owners of a movie wait forever not being able to play the discs on certain bluray players. Also recently a game publisher, bethesda, sued a person for selling their unopened copy of a game because the person sold it as a "new" product. Bethesda said there was no way for them to know the game is in fact new and since this individual wasnt a licensed retailer Bethesda wouldnt allow him to sell it as new.

Bethesda blocks resale of a secondhand game (update)


So whether you buy digital or physical there are always risks that a studio or manufacturer could screw you and your media library over in some way.

I buy some digital for the convenience and to save space in my home. My library of physical bluray and UHD is approaching 1000. Movies that I dont watch but once in a blue moon I'll buy on digitalHD. Buy a lot of tv shows on digitalHD as well. But other films like Star Wars and the MCU I buy in physical copy.

 

[NHawk19]

They do include language that would prohibit people from making money from their products (without giving them a cut). The issues here though I think are "Can they stop you from using it altogether for your own enjoyment?" or "Is a digital download more like leasing than purchasing?"

The Bethesda article though notes that they weren't blocking a second hand sale, which would've been acceptable under the first sale doctrine. It was his use of the term "new" rather than noting it as being listed as "Pre-Owned" or second hand in original package, which would've been a better way to describe it as he is not an authorized new product seller. I'd say that's a different set of rights he was violating rather than purchase and personal use, and re-sale.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I like having a physical copy myself. It feels more "real" to me that way. Especially with collector's sets from like Criterion or something. It's really nice to have those. I don't use my digital codes at all.

 

[Mandon Knight]

As an analogue man in a digital age, and someone who doesn't engage with 'digital' of anything if I can deal with it , and also as a collector and completist, I would always choose a physical copy of a film or game or piece of artwork over a digital / download version.

 

[C. Lee]

All my media is physical.

 

[Iceman]

All my media is physical.

Even all your Hype posts and banning orders?

 

[Iceman]

As an analogue man in a digital age, and someone who doesn't engage with 'digital' of anything if I can deal with it , and also as a collector and completist, I would always choose a physical copy of a film or game or piece of artwork over a digital / download version.

Analogue Man in a Digital Age.

That will be a future book or film lol, starring Mandon Knight.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Analogue Man in a Digital Age.

That will be a future book or film lol, starring Mandon Knight.

Tag line 'He's stuck in a world he doesn't understand, in a time he has no concept of, there's only one way to save himself....reach for the physical box-set and a cuppa !'

 

[Iceman]

Tag line 'He's stuck in a world he doesn't understand, in a time he has no concept of, there's only one way to save himself....reach for the physical box-set and a cuppa !'

Haha, I like it. The soundtrack will also feature the title track AM in a DA set to the music of “Video Killed a Radio Star”.

 

[Mandon Knight]

It'll be like Timecop but with a cream tea, BTTF t-shirt bought in a shop, not on-line I tell you, and a Sunday afternoon with Countryfile. Yes, I'm old.

 

[Iceman]

It'll be like Timecop but with a cream tea, BTTF t-shirt bought in a shop, not on-line I tell you, and a Sunday afternoon with Countryfile. Yes, I'm old.

It was Countryfile that gave you away.

 

[Mandon Knight]

It was Countryfile that gave you away.

I love me some Countryfile