When You Buy a Digital Movie, You Don’t Really Own It, Says New California Law

[HDTV1080P]

Nationwide the renting of physical media like 480i DVD, 2K Blu-ray, and 4K Blu-ray ended in 2024. And now to rent a movie in low bit rate 4K with lossy audio one needs to use a 4K streaming service, 4K cable TV service, or a 4K satellite TV service. Some people rent on the Kaleidescape system which has high bit rate 4K Blu-ray quality with lossless audio. However, most people are now doing the so called buying of movies (digital license) at the same location that they rent movies online.

This new January 1st 2025 California law will only allow companies like Kaleidescape to use the term “buy” or “purchase” since a true buy or purchase of a movie occurs when one can download a movie to a solid-state drive or hard drive for permanent viewing (or buying an optical disc like a 4K Blu-ray disc version of the movie). If the consumer is not able to download the movie, then under California law the term “buy” and “purchase” cannot be used for streaming of movies unless it's made clear to the consumer that they are buying a digital license to the movie and not actually purchasing the movie. And with a digital license one can lose access to the movie when the company revokes the movie or if the company goes out of business in the future. This is a good California law since it makes it clear that buying or purchasing a digital license to a streaming movie or videogame is not the same as a download or optical disc version. Technically one could also say the download version is a license also since only the optical disc version can be sold and the movie or videogame ownership being transferred. But at least with the download movie if the company were to go out of business one would have the encrypted downloaded movie until one’s hard drive goes bad in around 5 years. Stamped optical discs can last up to 1,500 years if stored correctly and manufactured correctly and are the only true lifetime ownership of a movie or videogame that can be transferred to another person through a sell or upgrade process.

Select quotes from article

““California is now the first state to recognize that when digital media retailers use terms like ‘buy’ and ‘purchase’ to advertise digital media licenses, they are engaged in false advertising,” said Aaron Perzanowski, professor of law at the University of Michigan.”

“The problem isn’t only limited to the United States, the news release notes: in Germany and Austria, Sony’s PlayStation Store permanently revoked access to hundreds of purchased movies.”

““Purchasing content on physical formats is still the very best way to ensure you own that movie or TV series for life,” he said. “It is also a guarantee of uninterrupted, and highest quality picture and sound — particularly on the Blu-ray Disc and 4K UHD formats.”

“In a boon to physical media, a new California law will require online merchants of digital media such as movies, video games and ebooks to disclose to their customers that they are merely buying a license to use the digital product and don’t actually own it.”

“Irwin in a news release said the legislation “addresses the increasingly common instance of consumers losing access to their digital media purchases through no fault of their own.” The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2025, requires sellers of “digital goods” to disclose to the purchaser that they are only receiving a license to use the digital media, “as opposed to implying the consumer has ownership of their digital item in the same way they would for a physical copy of a DVD or book.”

“According to a news release from Irwin’s office, “digital media purchases are often advertised to consumers with a large ‘buy’ or ‘purchase’ button, only for the consumer to one day discover that their purchase has been revoked from their media library altogether by the seller, likely with no refund. Sellers which offer the purchase for permanent offline download would be exempt from the need to provide a disclosure.”

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/when-y...alifornia-law/

[HDTV1080P]

I have not read the entire California bill that goes in effect on 1-1-2025, however if they were fair and smart with the bill, the streaming companies and digital media retailers should be pardoned and except for any sells before 1-1-2025. Its just starting on 1-1-2025 that the streaming providers need to make it clear that when a consumer pushes the buy or purchase button, that they are not buying a copy of the movie to own but instead buying/purchasing a license to use the digital media.

But some lawyers could have a field day if the streaming companies are not grandfathered in for movies that they already sold before 1-1-2025, its just going forward consumers need to be made aware that they are not buying a copy of the movie and only purchasing a license to view the movie or play the videogame.

[bhampton]

What do you mean pardoned?

The Terms and Conditions have them covered. People who looked into it already knew they were not really buying anything.

AND - The terms and conditions have had a no class action lawsuit clause for years now.

You can not tell some people some things because some people are willingly ignorant. You can try to tell someone they aren't buying a movie but the button says buy and that is the problem. The article is a good read.

[stonesfan129]

This wouldn't be an issue if they removed the DRM off of downloads, like they do with music.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

This wouldn't be an issue if they removed the DRM off of downloads, like they do with music.

Can't and won't happen but yes that would sort of work.

Movies are far more complicated to license than music.

[stonesfan129]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Can't and won't happen but yes that would sort of work.

Movies are far more complicated to license than music.

Movies are also a far larger investment/stake and that is probably why they will never do that.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

This wouldn't be an issue if they removed the DRM off of downloads, like they do with music.

The answer is simple, CD’s are not covered by “The Digital Millennium Copyright Act”, DVD, Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray are. Does not do much good to sell music with DRM when copying a CD is so easy and there is no legal recourse when one does so for their own use.

[stonesfan129]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

The answer is simple, CD’s are not covered by “The Digital Millennium Copyright Act”, DVD, Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray are. Does not do much good to sell music with DRM when copying a CD is so easy and there is no legal recourse when one does so for their own use.

Why are CDs not covered?

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

This wouldn't be an issue if they removed the DRM off of downloads, like they do with music.

it would also be nice if they payed us 1M$ every time we watch a movie (while we are dreaming might as well make it big)

the two industries are very different. In the old days concert prices where cheap and and the music industry would use tours to advertise new albums and then make their money from albums sales. But the music industry has changed. Most people are happy listening on Spotify (or equivalent) and the music industry makes next to nothing from canned music. Now the canned music is irrelevant as a revenue stream it is used to advertise the music. Swift's last tour grossed over 1B$ that is where the money comes from, if someone listens to DRMless copy they did not buy or a legitimate streamed copy that brought in almost no revenue or a free copy made available on youtube as long as it helps convince the person to pay hundreds and thousands for a ticket what is there to lose?


Unfortunately that could never work for the music industry. If I get to watch the canned film at home why would I go for a live film and pay hundreds and thousnads? live films don't exist .

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

Why are CDs not covered?

no DRM.

when I was a kid I used to buy records , then audio tapes ( more portable) then I went back to records and I woyuld copy te music to blank audio tapes. When CD came out they were only audio, so at most people coud do like I did with records buy it and burn to tape, but DRM would not help with that. It was years later the first CD drives for PCs and a way to copy the digital data showed up.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

Why are CDs not covered?

When CD’s were introduced there were no CD drives and PC’s that could make copies so no need for hardware/software copy protection. At work I had one of the first PC’s (Gateway) to have a CD drive, had Windows 3.1 (3.11 came later) as the OS. This was about 9 years after CD’s became available.