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Rented movie on iTunes and.....

mklos

mklos

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 4, 2002
1,896
0
My house!
So I rented a movie off iTunes on my MBP at work because they have faster downloading than at home (500k/sec vs 120k/sec at home). I wanted to play it on my iMac so I transfered the movie to my iMac, imported it into iTunes and it wouldn't play. I get an error message saying this movie was authorized to play on another computer or device. Yes, I did reauthorize the iMac and I still get this error message.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, this totally sucks! I can't download movie at home and I'd prefer not to watch them on a 15" screen when I have a beautiful 24" widescreen sitting on my desk. Needless to say, this will be my last rental from iTunes if this is infact true!

BTW...yes, both the MBP and the iMac are using the same iTunes account. I've never had any issues doing this work TV shows, music, or podcasts.
 
Here's an idea if you can't get the transfered file to play on your iMac.

Start the MBP in Target Disk Mode.

Connect the MBP and iMac via Firewire cable.

Boot the iMac up while holding down the Option key.

Select the MBP drive as the boot volume.

This will allow you to use the iMac, but you'll actually be booted off of the MBP. That iTunes account should work, at that point.

BTW, if this somehow hoses your Macs or kills your iTunes files, I take no responsibility. Proceed at your own risk. Seriously.

ft
 
My understanding is that movies can be transferred to an Apple TV, iPod, or iPhone, but not to another computer. But then again, I could be making it all up since I haven't used the service.
 
Can I play my rental on more than one device?
If you download a rented movie on your computer, you can transfer it to your Apple TV, iPod, or iPhone. Once you move the movie from your computer to a device, the movie will disappear from your computer's iTunes library. You can move the movie between devices as many times as you wish during the rental period, but the movie can only be viewed on one device at a time. If you rent the movie on your Apple TV, it is not transferable to any other device and you must watch it on your Apple TV.

as per apple website
 
Yeah you can transfer it to an iPod, AppleTV, iPhone, but apparently not another Mac or PC running iTunes. Which sucks! No more renting more me...


Also...Apple SERIOUSLY needs to rethink their 24 hour policy! It needs to be 48 hours or 7 days or something.
 
How do you sync rented movie to Apple TV?

marykay9507 said:
Can I play my rental on more than one device?
If you download a rented movie on your computer, you can transfer it to your Apple TV, iPod, or iPhone. Once you move the movie from your computer to a device, the movie will disappear from your computer's iTunes library. You can move the movie between devices as many times as you wish during the rental period, but the movie can only be viewed on one device at a time. If you rent the movie on your Apple TV, it is not transferable to any other device and you must watch it on your Apple TV.
as per apple website
Click to expand...


I rented a couple of movies on my iMac.
I want to watch them on the TV, so I copied them to my MacBook (which I then connect to the TV) but the movie will not play in another computer (even if it is authorized)....

I have apple tv (without the new software update which has not been released yet) and it DOES NOT sync the rented movies from my iMac. It does sync everything else... So, how can I sync/move/copy the RENTED movie from my iMac to AppleTV so that I can watch it on the TV? I have 6 days left :) BTW - it does sync other movies, just not the RENTED ones....

Thanks
 
Really, wow. I didn't know that. So the only computer you can play it on is the one you rented it from, even if they're on the same iTunes account? That's a pain in the behind. I'm sure there's a reason they did it that way, but still... Very frustrating.
 
I didn't know that. I imagine people would be more likely to rent from them if they were able to transfer the movies easier. Oh well, eventually apple will get it right.
 
jhsfosho said:
I didn't know that. I imagine people would be more likely to rent from them if they were able to transfer the movies easier. Oh well, eventually apple will get it right.
Click to expand...
I'm almost 100% positive this is not Apple's fault. The movie studios probably required Apple to not allow users to transfer rented movies to other computers.
 
the whole iTunes movie rental system seems very 'unapple'. i understand a lot of the setbacks come from the film companies/legal restrictions, but it seems if any company could revolutionize the process it would be apple. i think most people here can agree, one of the main reasons we enjoy apple products is their simplicity and intuitive nature. this rental system still seems kind of forced. i sure hope they continue to work on it.
 
There's nothing to work on until they can convince the movie studios to loosen restrictions. Believe it or not, the movie industry is even MORE paranoid about the Internet than the music industry was. It'll take a lot of work to get them to continue to agree to license content to iTunes and take some of the restrictions off, assuming it ever happens. Like it or not, Apple's in the weak position here—they don't have an incredibly proven position in movies like they do now with music (and the movie industry is less willing to "give them a chance" like the music industry was with the iTMS).
 
I don't disagree that the problem here is caused by the studios, but you would think that Apple would hold some clout in getting more flexibilty out of the rentals.

What's the difference in being able to transfer the rental from a Mac/PC to an iPod? There are many legitimate uses for downloading on one computer then transferring to another. As long as the iTunes accounts match and the downloaded file is erased from the source computer, then what's the big deal?

Apple needs to smack some sense into the studios. Restrictions are killing the business model ... well, maybe not, but it still sucks.

ft
 
killmoms said:
There's nothing to work on until they can convince the movie studios to loosen restrictions. Believe it or not, the movie industry is even MORE paranoid about the Internet than the music industry was. It'll take a lot of work to get them to continue to agree to license content to iTunes and take some of the restrictions off, assuming it ever happens. Like it or not, Apple's in the weak position here—they don't have an incredibly proven position in movies like they do now with music (and the movie industry is less willing to "give them a chance" like the music industry was with the iTMS).
Click to expand...

no - i agree with you totally - and i understand most of the shortcomings are in restrictions set by the studios. what i really meant is that i wish apple would have held off until they could have offered a rental system that provided a much greater user experience. that which we've come to expect (for the most part) from apple. because its like they are piecing it together as they go - and frustrating a lot of people in the mean time.
 
I've just found this out as well. Used my MBP at work, to download a rental as my home internet is crappy slow. Brought it home on a pen drive, and can't play it on my home Mac or AppleTV.

EPIC FAIL APPLE! My usual rentals back in the UK direct on AppleTV work fine, but on principle now you can stuff rentals.

I'll go back to Torrents for my movies. I know its wrong but its way less hassle then being legal and paying for it and having hassle. At least with a torrent movie "it just works!"
:mad:
 
It's sad this actually just happened to me as well.

I get to now resync my entire Apple TV, cause the only solution to this problem I can find is to sync the Apple TV to the laptop, then disconnect it and resync it back to my Apple TV Mac.

I could of just pirated the movie and saved myself the trouble of resyncing 5000 pictures.
 
quicksilver320 said:
It's sad this actually just happened to me as well.

I get to now resync my entire Apple TV, cause the only solution to this problem I can find is to sync the Apple TV to the laptop, then disconnect it and resync it back to my Apple TV Mac.

I could of just pirated the movie and saved myself the trouble of resyncing 5000 pictures.
Click to expand...

I feel for you man.

DRM does nothing except encourage piracy in my opinion.

In fairness to Apple though, they did refund me for the rental, but I've had to give up on them now as the data caps are just stupid on the ISPs here. Bummer.
 
I just tried to use my iPhone between my iMac and Macbook pro and it worked.

So here are the steps:

1. Connect your iPhone to the itunes account that you have the rentals in.
2. In iTunes on your computer go the iPhone device to the menu movie.
3 You will see your rental on the computer and next to it your iPhone. All you have to do is hit the move button and the rental will move from your computer to your iPhone.
4. Once the rental is on your iphone it will not be on the computer anymore.
5. Now connect the iPhone to the other computer.
6. Run steps 2 and 3 only in 3 your will move the rental from the iphone to the other computer.

Walla you have now successfully moved the rental form one device to the other.

Yes I know it is not elegant or Apple like but at least it allows you to do it until a better solution is available.

Good Luck!
 
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