You all remember just a few weeks ago when Sony ripped away a bunch of movies and TV shows people “owned”? This ad is on Amazon. You can’t “own” it on Prime. You can just access it until they lose the license. How can they get away with lying like this?
I used to buy movies on Amazon, assuming it worked like Steam does, where if Steam loses the license to sell it, you still have the ability to play it even if Steam isn’t allowed to sell it.
Hell I still have access to the stuff I got back when Steam still sold movies (I honestly miss Steam movies…)
When people started telling me their copies of things they owned were no longer usable once Amazon stopped selling it, I stopped buying.
IF BUYING ISN’T OWNING PIRACY ISN’T STEALING!
I haven’t ran into a situation where any of the digital copies of things I bought have been pulled. So I can’t speak to what happened with your friends. But I will say that if you have any purchased digital copies of movies, you should at least setup Movies Anywhere and link all accounts you have. It isn’t like how Steam will still allow you to download a pulled game. But it does give you copies of things on multiple sources once linked. So if you got something on Amazon, it would also be linked as “purchased” on other services like Vudu, YouTube/Play Movies, Apple, etc… It won’t apply to everything you have got but would likely cover most big name items.
It used to be marked with the old “Ultraviolet” branding, but when that was shutdown the basic underlying service was transferred to Movies Anywhere. Most of the time you can see which things would count because they have the MA logo. Not great for smaller releases and most shows won’t be part of it (atm at least). Though some shows might also show up, as I have seen things from HBO and some other ones.
All that being said. You are very much correct about “buying isn’t owning” these days. And even when there is something like MA, there are still thousands of movies and shows that will only ever get a digital “release” from torrents/P2P. Sad that some cool shit will never get a real HD re-master for Blu-ray (let alone streaming). I very much feel that studios should have at best a 10 year window to make whatever sales before the masters should be copied to public archives. If the studios won’t do it, then there are more than plenty of people out there that would do the job for the love of keeping old media preserved and accessible. Also bullshit when I try to go the “legal” route and find a show on one service in HD but only in SD on others. It is pretty infuriating to see that in some cases I can only get like season 2 of something on say Vudu for example, but season 1 is seemingly exclusive to Amazon. And one is in HD and the other is only SD.
I looked at Movies Anywhere and
- US only
- Movies bought only (no series, does not support rentals)
- sounds like they offer a unified interface to multiple providers - but you’re saying it unlocks the bought movies on the other platforms? - if it’s only a frontend it’d not help in keeping access
Not that I’d actually want to own any DCU movie, but yeah, that’s just patently false.
You can save up to 77% if you buy now.
you can never save by buying something. I save if I don’t buy.
🥸 well you see, you own a digital license to watch the movie so long as we have it available, have you read our terms of agreement–
Agreed that this is scummy marketing, though. The only real way to own media (legally) anymore is through physical copies, and even then maybe there’s some provision that makes a DVD illegal due to license shenanigans… but no cop’s gonna bust down your door for owning an illegal DVD of Aquaman.
I feel like an outsider on these debates. I totally agree we should be able to own forever.
In my case I find there is so much new TV and movies I rarely go back to re-watch shows or movies so owning them isn’t on my radar. It’s a challenge just to watch a whole series I find.
I’m wondering how often do people beyond kids re-watch movies and TV shows? Kids seem to be able to rewatch the same movies several times a day…
For me it’s preparing for future nostalgia, I want to be able to just "have it’ to look back on. It may sound strange to some people I guess but I can’t properly get “invested” in a show/movie/game without the knowledge that I’ll be able to rewatch it again, maybe at some point when I’m in my 80s and feel nostalgic about it. It’s a major barrier to my enjoyment in the present. It’s like why people take photos of things. 99% of what I would torrent are things I have access to now, that I would happily pay through the nose for if I could just own it in a DRM-free format.
While I am the same way with games, there should be a clear distinction between owning something and access to something with clearly defined limitations.
Some shows I watch once, but I am rewatching Futurama for probably the 20th time or so. Sometimes it is nice to revisit familiar things.
I rewatch movies ALL THE TIME, especially during Christmas and Halloween. There are a couple of other films that I put on consistently as a comfort watch (The Guest, Dread, etc.). I have watched entirely though all 3 Stargate Series at least 3 times each. My wife and I often rewatch Psych and The office. I have watched through all of the Star Trek series at least 4 times each. I am on my 5th or 6th time through Futurama. I have watched Fringe twice at least. Twice through X-Files. I don’t know how many times I have watched Firefly. My wife has been through Friends at least 5 times. And she has watched Murder She Wrote (the entire series) probably 30 times. I have watched Columbo in its entirely no less than 3 times.
Wait, you mean I don’t actually own Jason Momoa now? What about my kingdom, do I still own that? (It’s hard to tell, since it’s lost.)
You merely own a license that allows you to access Jason Momoa.
When you click “buy” or “purchase” on a video on Amazon Prime, you’re not actually coming into ownership of that movie of TV show. Instead, you’re merely paying for a limited license for “on-demand viewing over an indefinite period of time", as warned in the very small print on the company’s website.
they can get away apparently because of this very small print.
yarr-har-fiddle-dee-dee/ if you love to sail the seeries of tubes
plenty of room on that ad to replace ‘own it now’ with ‘rent it until the studio deletes it or we quit paying for its rights’
yes. kinda sucks.
I believe there was a couple of attempts that tried to complain but got dismissed because the defense mentioned the complainant didn’t read the TOS.
How can they get away with lying like this?
The own* the people who decide what they can get away with.
*as in actually own, not their single-instance redefinition of “own” where it means ‘definitely do not own’
Out already? Can’t be long before Radarr delivers it then.
Oh, and Ferrari.
Does Radarr have to be running at the exact moment a site adds it? I notice it auto downloads some things but not others.
Because they control the FTC and any other regulatory agencies. It’s called regulatory capture. The only other way they can be held accountable is through the pay to play court system which is biased towards them because they can drag it out until the other party gives up.
This is the answer.
All fed regulatory agencies are captured at this point.
this is why i still buy cds and dvds
Yep. I still like owning Blu-ray’s for this reason. When I tell people I have a Blu-ray collection they make fun of me.
I definitely do not value having lifetime access to 99.999% of the media I consume enough to have to deal with hoarding physical copies.
You just can’t see the microscopic “for” in “OWN IT ^for NOW”
Did you click on it? Maybe it links to a torrent :D
I am on the belief that once I buy something, let’s say Spiderman No Way Home, on streaming services, I am entitled to download it offline from anywhere for my own Jellyfin.
No one, or even biggest corp, can change my view.
Downloading stuff like this for personal use is in fact perfectly legal in many countries
If only they allowed you to do it easily…
Well it is easy.
It’s just they don’t allow it.
One out of two ain’t bad.
Even if you don’t pay for it?
In Switzerland it technically is legal. Only hosting for others is illegal.
In some countries making a private copy isn’t legal if copy protections are in place. Even if those copy protections are useless.
When they say “Own it now” they mean own it through Amazon Prime. I don’t like it either but legally that is fine.
Imagine a book store in which you pay for a book, then the book stays on the shelf in their shop, but they have in database that you can rent it whenever you want from them. How is this ownership?
