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Apple Pulls Some Disney and Pixar Titles From iTunes Store and iTunes in the Cloud [Updated]

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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thelionking.jpg
It appears some Disney and Pixar titles like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Cars series Mater's Tall Tales have been pulled from both the iTunes Store and the "Purchased Content" libraries of customers who paid for the content.

While the removal, originally noticed by a 9to5Mac reader, first appeared to be a glitch, AppAdvice has pointed out that the titles are also unavailable via the Amazon Instant Video service, suggesting the disappearance of the content may be intentional, potentially due to a licensing issue.

According to the customer who noticed the missing titles, Disney elected to remove the content from the iTunes Store, preventing customers who have purchased the movies/TV shows from re-downloading the content via iTunes in the Cloud, which allows users access to previously purchased content.
Two movies disappeared from my Apple TV yesterday (Mater's Tall Tales and The Lion King). I called Apple and they told me that Disney has removed them from the iTunes store. They are no longer available for viewing on my Apple TV. There was no warning, no notice and no refund. According to Apple, all digital content belongs to the content provider.
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On Amazon.com, searching for the titles results in a notice that licensing agreements have prevented the content from being purchased or rented, and as AppAdvice points out, Apple's iTunes Store Terms and Conditions does specify that previously purchased content can be made inaccessible.
As an accommodation to you, subsequent to acquiring iTunes Auto-Delivery Content, purchased (i.e. not rented) movies iTunes Products and TV show iTunes Products (each, "iTunes Eligible Content"), you may download certain of such previously-purchased iTunes Eligible Content onto any Associated Device.

Some iTunes Eligible Content that you previously purchased may not be available for subsequent download at any given time, and Apple shall have no liability to you in such event. As you may not be able to subsequently download certain previously-purchased iTunes Eligible Content, once you download an item of iTunes Eligible Content, it is your responsibility not to lose, destroy, or damage it, and you may want to back it up.
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Both Apple and Disney have yet to comment on the content removal, and it remains unclear whether the disappearance of select titles is temporary or a more permanent move.

Update: A Disney spokesperson told AppAdvice that Disney plans to work with Apple to ensure that users who purchased The Lion King and other content now removed from the App Store will be able to continue to download their purchases.

Article Link: Apple Pulls Some Disney and Pixar Titles From iTunes Store and iTunes in the Cloud [Updated]
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/24/apple-pulls-some-disney-and-pixar-titles-from-itunes-store-and-itunes-in-the-cloud/
R

Razeus

macrumors 603
Jul 11, 2008
5,348
2,030
How can they pull content that's been paid for? This is why I don't buy movies from iTunes or anywhere else as a download. :mad: I consider this THEFT and expect a class-action suit to be filed.

The formula is simple: I give you money for something you have; you give that something to me to own. If you take it back from me (especially without my knowledge), I expect you to give me my money back. Otherwise, it's called theft and there's laws for that.

What kind of world are we going to live when when companies let you buy stuff and they take it back. What is this? I give you money for nothing?

Again, I refuse to buy movies from downloaded sources for this reason alone. Ok, reason #2 is that the prices are too high.
 
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Klae17

Klae17

macrumors 65816
Jul 15, 2011
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I'm very tempted to post "Steve Jobs would never have allowed this." But I won't.
 
Icaras

Icaras

macrumors 603
Mar 18, 2008
6,343
3,380
Unfortunately I can confirm this. Both titles now gone from my library.

Come on Apple and Disney. Work it out.

Edit: To clarify, its gone from my iTunes account that is. If you have a local copy stored on your hard drive, then you'll still have the movie.
 
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The Tuck

The Tuck

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2003
427
55
This is why people should be afraid of purchasing content from the iTunes or Amazon digital video stores. Nothing beats a 1080p physical disk that you can keep on a shelf that the content owner can't remove from your library.
 
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taptic

taptic

macrumors 65816
Dec 5, 2012
1,341
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California
So if anyone wanted to watch this on their mac that is now lacking a DVD drive, they should...?

Of course, you can always get Netflix or something, but you can't download the movies from Netflix....
 
T

trilla12

macrumors newbie
Jun 21, 2008
19
0
Yeah but the joke's on him because he bought "Mater's Tall Tales." I know for a fact that's on Netflix instant streaming!
 
tarasis

tarasis

macrumors 6502a
Oct 26, 2007
692
99
Here, there and everywhere
That is a remarkably ****** thing to do by Disney. Particularly without warning or with an offer of a refund. Makes me more grateful that I download my stuff to iTunes and strip the DRM from them.

Its stuff like this that make people leary of going digital. *sigh*
 
FSMBP

FSMBP

macrumors 68030
Jan 22, 2009
2,712
2,623
This is way I don't like having things stored in the cloud. It's convienent but having a local copy is a must (which is why it's insane that iPad Air still comes with 16GB).
 
S

sprawl2

macrumors newbie
Jun 26, 2012
15
18
Kind of ironic, seeing as how Steve Jobs was basically directly responsible for the creation of Pixar.
 
S

Sith Vol

macrumors 6502
Oct 7, 2011
301
5
Memphis, TN
This is ridiculous. Pull the content from being able to be purchased from current customers, ok. But don't make it impossible for those who have already PAID for the downloads to redownload. Those movies are their property now. That's absurd.
 
WolfSnap

WolfSnap

macrumors 65816
Sep 18, 2012
1,070
910
SoCal
This is outrageous that a title could be pulled, that was paid for, and ALL their marketing says, "Available whenever, wherever you want it"..

Refunds or immediately return the titles is the only option acceptable IMHO. But, this is making me queasy about my purchased iTunes in the Cloud content.....
 
B

Bearxor

macrumors 6502a
Jun 7, 2007
772
495
Just when I was starting to come around to the idea that digital purchases might not be that bad...
 
jmpage2

jmpage2

macrumors 68040
Sep 14, 2007
3,223
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The Tuck said:
This is why people should be afraid of purchasing content from the iTunes or Amazon digital video stores. Nothing beats a 1080p physical disk that you can keep on a shelf that the content owner can't remove from your library.
Click to expand...

Exactly. This is the tip of the iceberg, because when you make an iTunes (or other digital media store) "purchase" you aren't buying anything. You are getting permission to view the title based on whatever licensing is in place at the time you make the "purchase"... and this can be changed any time.

The only way you own a title is if you have the physical disc.

I'm sure they will sort this out, but this won't be the last time. Plenty of us warning you digital consumers about this stuff have been teased relentlessly but this is your future, so get used to it.
 
A

aced411

macrumors 6502
Jun 2, 2007
380
92
Bummer. So I checked over at Vudu forums and a member there confirmed he can still stream Lion King. There is a difference between purchasing the rights to digital content (VUDU) and purchasing a license to view digital content that can be revoked at any time (iTunes, Amazon, Xbox). Read the terms of service before you buy.

PS Finding Nemo is still streaming from the iTunes cloud for me... hopefully everyone keeps a local copy of their itunes purchases :)
 
S

StephenCampbell

macrumors 65816
Sep 21, 2009
1,043
54
*Looks fondly at shelf full of Blu-Rays which cost no more than iTunes downloads, provide a superior image and sound, and can't vaporize into thin air*

Nope. Not feeling too much sympathy. :D

Edit: By the way, what they've done is not theft. People who had the films on their computers didn't lose them. They simply altered a service that they provide (the cloud) as it relates to these films.

Those that got hit by this were not only abandoning physical media (and better picture/sound quality because of it), but were relying on Apple to store their movies for them and not even keeping them on their own hard drive.
 
roland.g

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,413
3,142
This is why I download all iTunes purchases to my media drive and don't leave them for in the Cloud watching. While some content may be there, studios add and remove content. Once it is on your machine, it is yours to keep and can be streamed to an Apple TV or synced to an iOS device. The always available in the cloud feature was an added benefit if you wanted to access your content in other ways, but it is not really designed to be an online repository for your content as not all studios participate and keep all titles indefinitely. This is not iTunes Match.
 
iBreatheApple

iBreatheApple

macrumors 68030
Sep 3, 2011
2,945
1,018
Florida
I understand we accept the terms, and I personally don't have any of that content... but isn't there a grey area of fine print and implied/breach of contract type thing? It is seemingly implied that when you purchase something it is yours to keep. Anyway... Apple technically isn't in the wrong but people will be upset nonetheless.
 
Tankmaze

Tankmaze

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2012
1,707
351
Hakuna Matata...

well this shucks, sometimes when I ran out space I just delete the movies and knowing that movie would attach to my account and I can download it whenever I want.

really weird why disney would pull old titles.
 
C

CGJay

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2011
61
143
The Lion King being removed from the Store is understandable, as it was put back in the Vault in June. But removing it from those who've purchased it?

Come on Apple...
 
S

sesnir

macrumors 6502
Sep 21, 2008
366
287
As someone with a large media library, this kind of thing scares me. There's never any warning, and the idea of downloading all of the stuff I've purchased is cost prohibitive to download onto external hard drives. Not to mention I'd need to mirror that as a backup.
 
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