Movies missing

[JamesMay82]

Just been browsing looking at different movies and noticed that some movies are listed but don’t have the option to buy and they direct you to open in Disney plus or prime.

I find this a bit of a worry if it’s correct as looks like it’s phasing out digital purchases.

Here’s an example

Anyone else notice this?

 

[waw74]

one movie missing is not "phasing out digital purchases"
especially if that movie is over 20 years old, has a 32% on rotten tomatoes and available on a couple of the more popular streaming services for free

It's probably not worth the time for apple to negotiate with the studio for the few copies they might sell.

There could also be weird licensing issues with that title, and amazon got an exclusive deal, or a number of many other weird things.

"purchasing" a digital movie is also a bit misnamed, you're purchasing the right to stream it, If licensing contracts change, you may loose access to it, unless you've already downloaded it before apple lost their license for it.


I just looked, and I have the option to buy or rent from apple. I'm in the US.

 

[HDFan]

I have the option to buy or rent from apple. I'm in the US.

Same here, at least on my Mac.

 

[JamesMay82]

one movie missing is not "phasing out digital purchases"
especially if that movie is over 20 years old, has a 32% on rotten tomatoes and available on a couple of the more popular streaming services for free

It's probably not worth the time for apple to negotiate with the studio for the few copies they might sell.

There could also be weird licensing issues with that title, and amazon got an exclusive deal, or a number of many other weird things.

"purchasing" a digital movie is also a bit misnamed, you're purchasing the right to stream it, If licensing contracts change, you may loose access to it, unless you've already downloaded it before apple lost their license for it.


I just looked, and I have the option to buy or rent from apple. I'm in the US.

I’m aware of how licensing works but it wasn’t just that film. There was quite a few. I just checked that one now on my laptop logged out of iTunes and it doesn’t appear in search at all. I can’t remember the other films I noticed but it does seem to be more Disney/fox titles and that they appear to be saving them for Disney plus.

When I say it’s a worry it’s because it feel like they putting all their eggs in the streaming basket.

Noted on digital purchases, however apples terms and conditions say if you download it then you will be able to watch it forever.. granted the Apple ID does still have to authorise the playback so not sure how that would work if it has been removed from the store.

 

[HDFan]

I’m aware of how licensing works but it wasn’t just that film. There was quite a few. I just checked that one now on my laptop logged out of iTunes and it doesn’t appear in search at all.

The fact that studios can remove a film which you purchased is the reason I always purchase an optical copy which I rip. A 4K disk and digital copy can be as cheap or cheaper than purchasing a digital copy alone.

 

[JamesMay82]

The fact that studios can remove a film which you purchased is the reason I always purchase an optical copy which I rip. A 4K disk and digital copy can be as cheap or cheaper than purchasing a digital copy alone.

Sadly here in the UK they don’t do the digital codes like they do in the US

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

You might want to re-read what HDFan wrote: key phrase is "which I rip." Whether discs he buys has the digital code or not is irrelevant. He's ripping a digital copy from the disc. Along with the quite important benefits he lists, learning to rip your own will also allow you to choose your own quality level instead of letting a corporation choose for you. The process is harder than ripping a CD to music but not nearly as hard as some spin. And the computer will readily do the bulk of the work in the background, so it doesn't take much time.

 

[hotelie21]

This has happened to me a few times (that I know of), there are 2 TV shows that left the iTunes store a while back but fortunately I had downloaded both. One is back now, but they want me to repurchase it (maybe a new studio owns it). It would be nice if Apple would let us know ahead of time when something gets removed because of licensing etc., so we could have the chance to download it and protect our purchase. Can you imagine Best Buy or Amazon sneaking into our house and taking a blu-ray off our shelf without even telling us? ...ok, I could totally imagine Amazon doing that... but still. It would be great if we got a little advanced notice or any notice for that matter.

 

[JamesMay82]

You might want to re-read what HDFan wrote: key phrase is "which I rip." Whether discs he buys has the digital code or not is irrelevant. He's ripping a digital copy from the disc. Along with the quite important benefits he lists, learning to rip your own will also allow you to choose your own quality level instead of letting a corporation choose for you. The process is harder than ripping a CD to music but not nearly as hard as some spin. And the computer will readily do the bulk of the work in the background, so it doesn't take much time.

Ah yes I missed that. Is there a best practice guide on how to do this? I might have another try. But I’m never a fan of plex or other streaming software which usually puts me off using it.

 

[JamesMay82]

This has happened to me a few times (that I know of), there are 2 TV shows that left the iTunes store a while back but fortunately I had downloaded both. One is back now, but they want me to repurchase it (maybe a new studio owns it). It would be nice if Apple would let us know ahead of time when something gets removed because of licensing etc., so we could have the chance to download it and protect our purchase. Can you imagine Best Buy or Amazon sneaking into our house and taking a blu-ray off our shelf without even telling us? ...ok, I could totally imagine Amazon doing that... but still. It would be great if we got a little advanced notice or any notice for that matter.

Did the tv show you had downloaded still play when you tried it? They say to protect purchases you should download them but then the Apple ID still has to authorise them so not sure how that would work?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Ah yes I missed that. Is there a best practice guide on how to do this? I might have another try. But I’m never a fan of plex or other streaming software which usually puts me off using it.

No need for Plex. You can render at your chosen quality in native AppleTV format... then just play it on AppleTV, iDevices, etc. IMO, best playback app that way is the (orange) Computers app instead of the AppleTV app.

As to a guide: do a search for ripping dvd to AppleTV or ripping blurray to AppleTV and you'll find a number of step-by-step tutorials. Scroll down below the many ads for paid software that does it. The easy & free option involves a combination of makeMKV and then Handbrake.

Plex offers a few things that doesn't work on AppleTV (computers app), such as playing the rip of the disc itself instead of the added step of then converting it to an AppleTV (hardware) format. But I don't use it myself... as I prefer the very simple AppleTV (hardware) UI.

 

[hotelie21]

Did the tv show you had downloaded still play when you tried it? They say to protect purchases you should download them but then the Apple ID still has to authorise them so not sure how that would work?

Yes, I just checked to make sure they still played - and they do. Every once in a while I will have to reauthorize downloads in iTunes by entering my user ID and password.

 

[HDFan]

No need for Plex. You can render at your chosen quality in native AppleTV format

That's one option. Personally I want to preserve the full video and audio quality of the original disk. This requires keeping the .mkv copy - if you are using MakeMKV. Since Apple doesn't support playing a .mkv file that means you need to use a player that supports it. Plex is my favorite due to its options for viewing (bit rate, date viewed, your rating, ...). Iinfuse will play as well and is much less complex.