Bought a few TV shows years ago from iTunes - now no longer available to download?

[striders]

I paid for those TV show years ago and I thought I can re-download if I want to view it again. However, it seems that I cannot re-download it if Apple pulled the show from iTunes. I got the error:

"The item you've requested is not currently available in the U.S. store"

These are US-based TV shows and I am in the US. Anyone know why is this?

If this is standard practice, then ANY of my currently purchased TV shows, movies and songs can also disappear from iTunes, even though I paid for it?

 

[Julien]

Apple did not remove the shows off iTunes. That would be the licensed content owner that removed them. If you buy you should download and keep a copy since you can never know when the license holder will remove it.

 

[striders]

Apple did not remove the shows off iTunes. That would be the licensed content owner that removed them. If you buy you should download and keep a copy since you can never know when the license holder will remove it.

Ah ok. It's bizarre since the show is US based and I am in the US.

Looks like I'll have to download all media to prevent this. I won't have space in my MBP, though.

How do I move these files to a network drive and ensure that iTunes still recognize it?

 

[Nermal]

If this is standard practice, then ANY of my currently purchased TV shows, movies and songs can also disappear from iTunes, even though I paid for it?

Yup. I've had music, apps and books disappear. With other services I've had games disappear. This sort of thing is exactly why I still buy physical games and physical movies (although the quality difference is also a factor). I keep a backup of all my downloads and I highly recommend that you do too.

 

[striders]

Yup. I've had music, apps and books disappear. With other services I've had games disappear. This sort of thing is exactly why I still buy physical games and physical movies (although the quality difference is also a factor). I keep a backup of all my downloads and I highly recommend that you do too.

Yeah, I am going to stop buying iTunes movies and just get the physical version.

I am going to start downloading ALL the movies I have purchased in the past few years, but these will take a lot of space so I'll have to store it in my network drive. Do you know if this will work?

Basically, download all the movie to a mapped network drive, which I may not map every time I boot my machine.

 

[Nermal]

I'm not sure; I have a 6 TB drive so haven't run into space issues

 

[Paco II]

Purchasing digital content is challenging in this way. Its more like renting since it doesn't really feel like you truly own it.

 

[JackieInCo]

Purchasing digital content is challenging in this way. Its more like renting since it doesn't really feel like you truly own it.

I'm willing to take that chance. I once had all my purchased TV shows downloaded and it took over 8GB of space. Mots of those drives have died over the years and now with Comcasts 1TB bandwidth limit, downloading one season of an HD TV show can easily take 30GB of bandwidth.

iTunes does state that the content that iTunes sells is up to the buyer to store and backup because the content can be pulled at any time.

So far, I have not have that happened expect for several music videos but I have those backed up on a few computers. Bands seem to have a habit of selling music videos and then pulling them after a few years.

 

[striders]

I'm willing to take that chance. I once had all my purchased TV shows downloaded and it took over 8GB of space. Mots of those drives have died over the years and now with Comcasts 1TB bandwidth limit, downloading one season of an HD TV show can easily take 30GB of bandwidth.

iTunes does state that the content that iTunes sells is up to the buyer to store and backup because the content can be pulled at any time.

So far, I have not have that happened expect for several music videos but I have those backed up on a few computers. Bands seem to have a habit of selling music videos and then pulling them after a few years.

When you have it downloaded, how do you copy that to Apple TV for watching it there?

One of the reason I bought medias from iTunes is for the ecosystem: I can watch it in iPad, AppleTV, MacBook and iPhone simply by downloading from iTunes.

 

[JackieInCo]

When you have it downloaded, how do you copy that to Apple TV for watching it there?

One of the reason I bought medias from iTunes is for the ecosystem: I can watch it in iPad, AppleTV, MacBook and iPhone simply by downloading from iTunes.

You simply download it using iTunes of course. You use the same login for sharing your iTunes library as you do the logon on the ATV. On the ATV, the computer will show under computers and you select the computer and go from there. It's really easy. The computer has to be on with iTunes open any time you want to view whatevers on the that computer.

I can leave my MBP closed and the ATV will still see it and be able to watch anything on it. I also have a Mac Mini that just serves as an iTunes server in the same way.

 

[RobinInOR]

How I do it is to store all movie/tv shows on an external drive, and I set up iTunes in the settings somewhere to tell it to not consolidate everything to its main library.
Now take this with a grain of salt, I'm running a very old iTunes, but the concept should work in the newer versions. LMK if it doesn't.
I drag the movie to the iTunes window (I usually have the home video page of the movies showing because it's blank, but in the newer verso. Just show the movie page.). That adds the link to the movie into iTunes, but leaves the movie in place.
I do a get info on the movie and in the options I tell it it's a movie or a TV show, so it shows up in the right section.

I now have media wherever is need them, and they are accessible by anything that uses iTunes.

 

[Rigby]

I paid for those TV show years ago and I thought I can re-download if I want to view it again. However, it seems that I cannot re-download it if Apple pulled the show from iTunes. I got the error:

"The item you've requested is not currently available in the U.S. store"

How exactly are you trying to download them? There are several ways ("Purchased" section in the store, in the library view, or on the store page of the show if they are still selling it.).

If this is standard practice, then ANY of my currently purchased TV shows, movies and songs can also disappear from iTunes, even though I paid for it?

I have never lost access to a TV show or movie, including some that are no longer offered in the store for new buyers. What has happened to me though is that some shows somehow got "hidden" status without me doing it (probably a bug in the store). You might want to check in your account settings if there are any hidden items.

 

[striders]

How exactly are you trying to download them? There are several ways ("Purchased" section in the store, in the library view, or on the store page of the show if they are still selling it.).
I have never lost access to a TV show or movie, including some that are no longer offered in the store for new buyers. What has happened to me though is that some shows somehow got "hidden" status without me doing it (probably a bug in the store). You might want to check in your account settings if there are any hidden items.

I tried it from iTunes -> Purchased -> TV Shows, all from iPhone, iPad and Mac. I can see the show in the list there, but any attempt to download will give the error mentioned.

If I searched for it under "TV Show" (not from the purchased section), it no longer show up.

So based on the responses above, if the copyright holder pulled out the media and you didn't download it, you can't re-download it from iTunes anymore.

 

[Rigby]

I tried it from iTunes -> Purchased -> TV Shows, all from iPhone, iPad and Mac. I can see the show in the list there, but any attempt to download will give the error mentioned.

Is this the "Purchased" section in the toolbar on the left in iTunes, or in the store on the right under "Quick Links"? You want the latter one.

Also, try switching to library view, and make sure that "All TV Shows" in the View menu is enabled (and of course that you are logged in to your account in iTunes). Can you see the shows then?

So based on the responses above, if the copyright holder pulled out the media and you didn't download it, you can't re-download it from iTunes anymore.

I have a few dozen TV shows and have never experienced that. I know for a fact that shows that are removed from the store are not automatically removed from the libaries of existing buyers (because I have some shows like that).

 

[Tech198]

It's a license to watch it from Apple, not Apple behaving like a 'pirate' where the content is gone, but customers are still able to watch their own purchases because they purchased it within the time period..

I've had content dissappear that i bought listed in purchases, and instead now included in a 3 pack movie bundle on iTunes Store.. I asked Apple about this single purchase, and they say its been removed... I am not gonna dispute this with Apple because I know they have a right to do this. (this could be depending on country)

You don't own anything,, Its only right to keep watching it "license" while it's on the store. After all before u watch anything, it "authenticates" with Apple.. This isn't just verifying u'r logged in, it verifies u have the right to watch what u purchased...

 

[Rigby]

You don't own anything,, Its only right to keep watching it "license" while it's on the store. After all before u watch anything, it "authenticates" with Apple.. This isn't just verifying u'r logged in, it verifies u have the right to watch what u purchased...

This is not accurate. You need to authorize a newly installed iTunes once, but after that, you can play downloaded movies indefinitely without an online connection.

 

[JackieInCo]

This is not accurate. You need to authorize a newly installed iTunes once, but after that, you can play downloaded movies indefinitely without an online connection.

When streaming purchased content with an ATV, each time you watch something, the ATV goes through an authorization before the show or movie well play. You need an active internet connection to play those obviously so they can authorize and steam.

Even downloaded content well have a hard time playing through an ATV without an internet connection. When my comcast goes down, I will use my phone's internet through my ATV so that I can watch my downloaded shows and movies.

 

[Rigby]

When streaming purchased content with an ATV, each time you watch something, the ATV goes through an authorization before the show or movie well play. You need an active internet connection to play those obviously so they can authorize and steam.

If you stream from the cloud you obviously need an Internet connection.

Even downloaded content well have a hard time playing through an ATV without an internet connection. When my comcast goes down, I will use my phone's internet through my ATV so that I can watch my downloaded shows and movies.

This is true only when you use Homesharing (which requires access to your Apple account to establish the session). But you can airplay downloaded content from iTunes to an Apple TV over the local network without an Internet connection.