Why Apple removes titles

[Tech198]

Hi all

I'm guessing this could also be generally as well.. but specifically, regarding movie titles, why does Apple remove them from the Store ?

I've heard feedback from Apple saying "copyright issues", but it it were copyright issues, why would they be there in the first place, as i'm sure the movie industries have their say in this too.

I can understand mistaking approving Apps, and these are pulled because of some things, but i can't understand movies..

And it seems to be the older, more classic movies.

For example: 127 hours was on the store a few month back i remember, and was all set up to rent it a few days later, and it had disappeared.

Anyone know why this is the case? btw... the same thing happens with Netflix too... probably same issue.

 

[Che Castro]

Maybe the same reason why Netflix titles expire after a while

The deal ends ?

 

[E.Lizardo]

Hi all

I'm guessing this could also be generally as well.. but specifically, regarding movie titles, why does Apple remove them from the Store ?

I've heard feedback from Apple saying "copyright issues", but it it were copyright issues, why would they be there in the first place, as i'm sure the movie industries have their say in this too.

I can understand mistaking approving Apps, and these are pulled because of some things, but i can't understand movies..

And it seems to be the older, more classic movies.

For example: 127 hours was on the store a few month back i remember, and was all set up to rent it a few days later, and it had disappeared.

Anyone know why this is the case? btw... the same thing happens with Netflix too... probably same issue.

Deals with rights holders are for a limited time.When they expire they are removed unless and until renewed.
The same thing happens with Mystery Science theater DVDs.They've been sold in sets of four for several years.When the rights to one movie expire the whole set goes away.This is one reason I'm not thrilled with the streaming/download model.

 

[kirsch92]

This is one reason I'm not thrilled with the streaming/download model.

I second that.
And here's why: You can't trust Apple to store your purchased content for you and have it be there when you need it.
My specific example:
I bought a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital copy of Rio for the kids. Downloaded the dgital copy into Itunes, and worked great for over a year, streaming to the ATV2.

I keep my iTunes library on an external drive, backed up by CCC to another external. My external drive started failing, so I bought a new one, moved the library there, somehow losing the digital copy to Rio in the process, probably due to an error on my part with CCC.
The folder is there, just no file.
The reason is irrelevant, because for the purposes of this post, all you need to know is I lost it.

So anyway, I thought, No big deal, I'll just redownload it from iTunes.
But I can't. Even though Rio shows up under purchased content, AND iTunes gives me the option to redownload, THEY no longer have the movie, so I can't redownload.
Could I call Apple and somehow get it back? Maybe.
But it's easier for me to rip the DVD with Handbrake, so that's what I'm gonna do.
I know there are boatloads of people who think you don't have to back up purchased content because, Hey, that's what iCloud/iTunes is for. Until it isn't.

 

[brentsg]

Was Rio actually downloaded or is it one that authenticated in iTunes then pulled the content from a disk?

 

[msugi07]

So let me get this straight... Apple goes into a contract with the film industries for a limited time???

 

[steve-p]

So let me get this straight... Apple goes into a contract with the film industries for a limited time???

Maybe, maybe not. It could be an open ended contract but with a notice period for termination, in the event the studios want to resell the distribution rights to someone else. Or it could be fixed and require renegotiation at the end of the period, but Apple don't like the terms offered when looking at the number of sales they have had.

This is the big difference compared to physical media. It doesn't matter if a store stops selling a title on disc, because if you have already bought it, you physically have it for the lifetime of the media. With electronic distribution, if you lose your downloaded copy, you could be screwed.

This is related to my biggest gripe about the move from physical media to streaming/downloading instead. It's not a mature market. There are a lot of players involved trying to get dominance by using exclusive agreements, and this leads to fragmentation of availability. No one service has everything, so we all have to deal with multiple competing services, with their own DRM and restrictions etc. What the consumer wants is for each of these competing services to have everything, so they can choose on price, and stick with one ecosystem if they want to. Just like physical media, where you can go to any large store with the expectation they have everything. The movie/TV studios at the moment are not delivering what consumers want. They are trying various schemes to extract the most money from consumers, but it seems to me the result of a switch from physical medium to Internet delivery is going to be increased piracy unless they get their act together and start making sense from the consumer's perspective.

 

[E.Lizardo]

So let me get this straight... Apple goes into a contract with the film industries for a limited time???

Contracts have to be renewed.If you were a studio would you "sell"the rights to a movie to a distributor permanently,knowing that the market changes over time?
The bottom line is this.Rights holder's dream is a world in which consumers own nothing and pay for each use of a movie/song/whatever,and cannot resell a movie they bought.Obviously that aint gonna happen but anything they can do to move closer to that world is a good thing in their eyes.eBooks kill the used book market,even the borrowing of books.They would like the same with other media.Either to make it inconvenient or impossible to share/resell.Obviously that didn't work out for music,so now subscription services have you pay forever to hear music that you don't own.Not to say those aren't a good deal,but you are at the mercy of their catalog,and if they change it,tough luck.

 

[Alrescha]

I know there are boatloads of people who think you don't have to back up purchased content because, Hey, that's what iCloud/iTunes is for. Until it isn't.

Except in your example, you didn't buy it from iTunes. There's no evidence that movies that you purchased from the iTunes store will become unavailable to download in the future.

A.

 

[kirsch92]

Was Rio actually downloaded or is it one that authenticated in iTunes then pulled the content from a disk?

Ah-ha! I had never thought of that, and you were right. What's funny, is Rio is the only Digital Copy I have that doesn't have an expiration date attached to the download code.
I was able to re-install using the code again.

I am pretty sure I couldn't have done this using an expired code, because I know from experience once that date hits, the code doesn't work. I realized some of my other Digital Copies must be authenticated as well rather than downloaded, but they all have expiration dates. And most of the movies I tossed the code once I did the digital download, so it doesn't matter anyway.

Except in your example, you didn't buy it from iTunes. There's no evidence that movies that you purchased from the iTunes store will become unavailable to download in the future.

Yeah, after seeing Rio wasn't downloaded, I understand that. But I still don't like the way digital downloads are being processed for the end user. There is nothing in iTunes that tells me Rio is any different than any other content. The title resides in my Purchased folder, just like everything else that came from the iTunes Store.
In the end, it's safer for ME to control my content, not somebody else.

 

[brentsg]

Ah-ha! I had never thought of that, and you were right. What's funny, is Rio is the only Digital Copy I have that doesn't have an expiration date attached to the download code.
I was able to re-install using the code again.

I am pretty sure I couldn't have done this using an expired code, because I know from experience once that date hits, the code doesn't work. I realized some of my other Digital Copies must be authenticated as well rather than downloaded, but they all have expiration dates. And most of the movies I tossed the code once I did the digital download, so it doesn't matter anyway.



Yeah, after seeing Rio wasn't downloaded, I understand that. But I still don't like the way digital downloads are being processed for the end user. There is nothing in iTunes that tells me Rio is any different than any other content. The title resides in my Purchased folder, just like everything else that came from the iTunes Store.
In the end, it's safer for ME to control my content, not somebody else.

Glad it worked!

Well, depending on the movie studio (and perhaps down to the individual title?), many of the codes that you redeemed will be available to download or stream from iTunes now. This will include some that were originally imported from disk. It's in the hands of the studio at this point.

I went through and looked for any codes I'd missed because titles recently became available to stream to iPad or ATV. Before I didn't really care because I could rip my own "digital copy" anyways.