You Don’t Actually Own That Movie You Just “Bought.”
A little known fact about movie and TV show "purchases" online: What's being bought isn't actually ownership of the title but rather a limited-time license for viewing access.
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LampLighter
Joined 2013/04/13Visited 2025/08/27
Status: user
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This is exactly what killed iTunes.
#1 | Posted by ClownShack at 2025-08-26 10:28 PM | Reply
More from the article ...
... Consider the $4.99 director's cut of Alien on Amazon Prime Video. Cheap, right? But if the tech giant loses the rights to that version, the movie can be replaced with a different cut, like the one for theaters. And if Amazon loses the rights to the film altogether, it'll completely disappear from the viewer's library. So should Amazon be able to say a consumer is "buying" that movie? Some people don't think so, and they've turned to court. On Friday, a proposed class action was filed in Washington federal court against Amazon over a "bait and switch" in which the company allegedly misleads consumers into believing they've purchased content when they're only getting a license to watch, which can be revoked at any time. The issue came to the forefront at the California legislature in 2023 when gamers discovered that their access to The Crew would be cut off once Ubisoft shut down servers for the game. After, the "Stop Killing Games" movement was born to stop publishers from destroying titles consumers had already bought. ...
So should Amazon be able to say a consumer is "buying" that movie? Some people don't think so, and they've turned to court.
On Friday, a proposed class action was filed in Washington federal court against Amazon over a "bait and switch" in which the company allegedly misleads consumers into believing they've purchased content when they're only getting a license to watch, which can be revoked at any time.
The issue came to the forefront at the California legislature in 2023 when gamers discovered that their access to The Crew would be cut off once Ubisoft shut down servers for the game. After, the "Stop Killing Games" movement was born to stop publishers from destroying titles consumers had already bought. ...
#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 10:29 PM | Reply
Related ...
PlayStation Store removes purchased movies from libraries after service shutdown (2022) www.theverge.com
... Sony is removing access to hundreds of movies and TV shows on its PlayStation Store service next month, meaning users that previously paid for titles such as Paddington and The Hunger Games will no longer be able to watch them. The shutdown affects users in Germany and Austria, according to legal notices posted on the two regional sites, and covers films produced by StudioCanal. ...
#3 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 10:32 PM | Reply
@#1 ... This is exactly what killed iTunes. ...
Ya know, now that you mention it, I don't se Apple promoting iTunes so much anymore.
If at all.
#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 10:37 PM | Reply
And, fwiw, I do agree with this lawsuit.
If someone is "licensing" version of media, then it should be presented as such, and not as "buying" (which, to me, implies sole possession) that version of the media.
#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 10:41 PM | Reply
If we don't own it when bought then we're not taking it when pirated lol
#6 | Posted by Tor at 2025-08-26 10:50 PM | Reply
@#6
Pirating media is a whole different thing.
#7 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 10:54 PM | Reply
@#6 ... If we don't own it when bought then we're not taking it ...
#8 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-27 01:16 AM | Reply
But yeah, that seems to be the gist behind this lawsuit. ...
Amazon apparently telling you you own the media, when all you really have is a whimsical lease of the media.
#9 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-27 01:17 AM | Reply
@#8
Oops, a formatting error that resulted in my comment being negated by the backroom hamsters here.
Fortunately, my browser saved what I was trying to post, and I was able to correct it.
#10 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-27 01:19 AM | Reply
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