Buying digital movies is a risky business.There's no guarantee that you'll always be able to access the TV show or movie that you paid for.While some companies are actively removing people's content, there's one thing you can do to give your collection a better chance of survival.
Digital movies you "buy" can be taken away You're buying access to the content, not the content itself When you buy a DVD or Blu-ray, you get a physical copy of the movie that you can continue to watch for as long as the disc remains playable.As long as you still have the hardware, you could play the same movie today, tomorrow, or in 10 years' time.When you buy a digital movie, you're not actually buying an unrestricted copy of the video file in the same way.
Instead, you're buying a license to watch that content, and it's a license that can be revoked.If the company that you buy the content from loses the distribution rights to that movie, or goes out of business, then you may no longer be able to watch that movie, even though you paid for it.For example, Google's terms of service state that purchased content will remain available "for as long as Google has the right to make such content available to you." However, it also says that in some cases, including when Google loses the relevant rights, "Google may remove from your Device or cease providing you with access to certain Content that you have purchased." In other words, you can watch the movie for now, but Google can not only revoke your access to the content you’ve paid for, but it can even remove a downloaded copy from your device.
Google’s terms say it may offer a replacement or full or partial refund in some circumstances, but this isn’t guaranteed.Losing access to content really happens Real-world examples aren't uncommon Close If all of this sounds like scaremongering, think again.There are plenty of real-world examples of people having access to their content revoked, across a wide range of companies.
The most hilarious example is Amazon remotely removing the book from people's Kindles, a book about a dystopian society that seeks to control access to information.I came across a recent example on Reddit.A post went viral after a user explained that the extended editions of the trilogy that they’d bought through Google in 2022 were no longer available in their library.
The user was initially unable to get a refund for the removed content because the purchase was too long ago.Google did eventually offer store credit and claimed the removals were due to a technical issue, but it appears that the user still does not have access to one of the movies.It also took the problem going viral for Google to actually do anything about it.
This isn't to say that every movie or TV show you buy is sure to disappear before too long.It's a fairly rare occurrence, but it's definitely non-zero.Related The Future of Streaming: Will We Ever Own Movies Again? Our libraries are vanishing.
Posts 22 By Ray Malik Apple offers a surprisingly simple solution You can download Apple purchases that can't be removed While Google explicitly states that it can remove your access to content without a refund, there's another company that takes a different approach.Apple very clearly explains your rights with regard to content you purchase from the company, and it's good news if you're hoping to build a digital collection that won't disappear overnight.First, Apple makes clear that, although it isn't likely, content may be removed from Apple Media Services so that you are no longer able to download or access it.
However, it offers a solution to ensure that if this does happen, you don't lose the content forever.The support page states that "you can permanently download purchased content to your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Windows PC.Once downloaded, you can access content without an internet connection, and Apple can't remove it from your device." This means that even if Apple loses the rights to a show or movie that you've bought, as long as you've downloaded a copy, you can keep watching it for as long as you want.
Apple won’t block you from watching it and won’t attempt to remove it from your devices like other companies might.Downloading Apple content still isn't true ownership It's still the best legal option there is right now While purchasing content from Apple and downloading copies gives you more protection against losing access to your digital purchases, it’s far from perfect.If Apple does lose the rights to a show, and you've not downloaded it already, you still won't be able to access it.
It also means that you need enough storage to hold all of your purchases, and with a lot of movies, the file sizes can soon add up.The content is still DRM-protected, so you need to watch it through Apple’s software; you don’t get an unprotected movie file that you can play however you want.If you truly want to own a movie, purchasing the Blu-ray or DVD still remains the most unrestricted way to do so.
For digital downloads, purchasing and downloading from Apple is probably one of the safest options.Streaming has made ownership less of an issue The reality is that many of us rely on streaming services to access shows and movies.Content regularly leaves streaming services and moves to other services or becomes unavailable, so many of the same issues apply.
If you've already built up a reasonable Apple movie library, then you might want to think about downloading the movies that you really don't want to lose.
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