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Playstation Store Germany about to expropriate purchased "Studio Canal"-content from customers

Three

Gold Member

TrebleShot

Member
For the life of me I can’t get my head around people who buy something physically then scream from the rooftops “HAHA I OWN IT”.

When I purchased the phantom menace on VHS many years ago I then had to repurchase it again on DVD then again on 1080 Bly ray then again on 4k. Digitally if you purchase something or get a streaming service they will update your copy or access to 4k , Dolby atmos etc and likely will for 8k etc.

Sure I don’t own it but that’s less useless plastic lying around and at least with digital I buy it once or get it with my sub and it’s the best version possible.
 

Filben

Member
Just read it on a German news site.

Sony's reply, as quoted there:
Ab dem 31. August 2022 wirst du aufgrund unserer sich entwickelnden Lizenzvereinbarungen mit Inhaltsanbietern nicht mehr in der Lage sein, deine zuvor gekauften Inhalte von Studio Canal anzusehen, und sie werden aus deiner Video-Bibliothek entfernt.
In short: we're removing previously bought content due to license agreements with content providers.

No word of apologies, no word of compensation or options. Just a fact.

I remember when people said, although game related, that this kind of thing will never happen; You will always have access unless the company goes bankrupt!
 
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Shifty

Member
All the more reason to swill some grog, hoist the mainsail, and 'secure your investment' as I'm sure the greasy fucks behind these licensing deals would put it.
 
That beautiful online-only future.....

How companies see their customers:

Pay Day Money GIF by Anderson .Paak


How the CEO and the Stakeholders feel about it:

The Simpsons Reaction GIF
 
Just read it on a German news site.

Sony's reply, as quoted there:

In short: we're removing previously bought content due to license agreements with content providers.

No word of apologies, no word of compensation or options. Just a fact.

I remember when people said, although game related, that this kind of thing will never happen; You will always have access unless the company goes bankrupt!
Time for lawsuit. This really doesn't sound legal.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
Yeah, what I meant is that it hasn't happened to games... yet. That would be a huge PR suicide. Film industry doesn't give a fuck.

Bit of a mind-blowing revelation to me, really. I knew "ownership" of digital was flimsy at best, but finding out that a license can be yanked away like that.....I had no idea. Sounds a bit like a ponzi scheme.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Bit of a mind-blowing revelation to me, really. I knew "ownership" of digital was flimsy at best, but finding out that a license can be yanked away like that.....I had no idea. Sounds a bit like a ponzi scheme.
Some of us have been saying this for years. The whole "you'll own nothing and like it" from the very words of the WEF which all world leaders are a part of.

*sips tea*
 

sainraja

Member
I think a disclaimer needs to be posted that this applies to ALL DIGITAL SERVICES and has to do with movies. I have pretty much been purchasing movies digitally now and I thought if we purchase something, we can always re-download it. I didn't know that they can take away that for purchased content, I was thinking they'd prevent any future sales. How can license holders impose this kind of restriction? If they are selling something on someone else's storefront, once sold, the storefront should be allowed to honor previous purchases. Down with digital, man.

Hell, lol, before Sony was mentioned, many of us didn't know this was a global thing....

My movie library exists between Google and Apple and now I might just stop buying movies, there is no point.
 
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Kenpachii

Member
Digital licenses can always be revoked. U take the risk of buying into that once u buy digital from storefront.

This is why i state digital games and movies or music are all worthless, specially as u can't resell it anymore.
 
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sainraja

Member
Digital licenses can always be revoked. U take the risk of buying into that once u buy digital from storefront.

This is why i state digital games and movies or music are all worthless, specially as u can't resell it anymore.
I think it was always understood that digital content could be delisted from stores so people can't buy it. What is now becoming clear is that, if the license holder demands it, services CAN and WILL remove content from being purchased AND being downloaded by those who bought it.
 
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Filben

Member
Time for lawsuit. This really doesn't sound legal.
Yeah, and law trumps ToS. I can write any ToS I want but it doesn't mean it applies. But we would need someone with the means, time and budget for a lawsuit. Until that happens they will go on with their ToS, until a judge says this isn't legal.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Why can't people download something if they've purchased it?

When you buy a digital game you don't actually buy the game. You buy a license to rent it, essentially, which the owner can revoke pretty much whenever.

Although I wonder if there aren't EU rules against this.
 

Filben

Member
And they wonder why Torrents still exist.
And then they tell you how much """damage""" was done and how many sales were """lost""" and it hurts the industry (that's swimming in money).

But maaaybe a) make your shit available and now b) make me trust you won't revoke what I've paid for and c)... acknowledge that I've already paid for it ffs.

Just imagine buying a disc and one of their goons comes to your place and supposedly legally take it from you. Bonkers.
 

GHG

Gold Member
I think a disclaimer needs to be posted that this applies to ALL DIGITAL SERVICES and has to do with movies. I have pretty much been purchasing movies digitally now and I thought if we purchase something, we can always re-download it. I didn't know that they can take away that for purchased content, I was thinking they'd prevent any future sales. How can license holders impose this kind of restriction? If they are selling something on someone else's storefront, once sold, the storefront should be allowed to honor previous purchases. Down with digital, man.

Hell, lol, before Sony was mentioned, many of us didn't know this was a global thing....

My movie library exists between Google and Apple and now I might just stop buying movies, there is no point.

I've been buying 4k movies on my Apple TV 4k for the last 3 years or so and will continue to do so. I only buy things when they are on deep sale though (and provided they are in 4k for the most part) so they are a fraction of the cost the 4k blu-ray would cost.

That's how I justify this nonsense to myself anyway, life is too short to miss out on watching the movies I want in high quality on my home cinema system because they might be taken away at some undefined point in the future.
 

Garibaldi

Member
When you buy a digital game you don't actually buy the game. You buy a license to rent it, essentially, which the owner can revoke pretty much whenever.

Although I wonder if there aren't EU rules against this.
I know user manuals aren't really that expansive these days but if you read the small print you don't actually own the game when you buy a physical copy of a game (or movie or music for that matter). It's always a license to use the content in a private viewing capacity. So you can't go play it in public at venue or something for example.

Only difference is it's obviously very difficult for them to go round up all the physical copies if they ever decided to revoke that license. Digital fixes that issue for them unless you download a backup before it's made unavailable.

Next step will be to effectively brick physical copies by slowly forcing the always online license check on us. It's coming.
 

Swift_Star

Banned
Yeah, and law trumps ToS. I can write any ToS I want but it doesn't mean it applies. But we would need someone with the means, time and budget for a lawsuit. Until that happens they will go on with their ToS, until a judge says this isn't legal.
Good luck suing pretty much all platforms… it’s not going to work.
 

Trunx81

Member
Did it happen before? Hell yes it did: Singstar. If you’ve purchased music and loose your console (eg it breaks) you will never get your songs back.
 

Nydius

Member
I don't understand how anyone could sit here and think this is something to dunk on Sony over when this happens everywhere. Anyone else remember Marble Blast Ultra back on the Xbox 360? Because I sure as hell do. Bought that game on Xbox Live Arcade. Some time later the developer got bought by someone else or had to liquidate or some such (don't remember which), and the game entered into IP limbo. Originally the game was just delisted but was still playable. Then one day I went to play it and it had completely vanished from my library, removed from my X360's internal HDD, without so much as a warning.

Amazon remotely removed purchased books from peoples' Kindles back in 2009 over similar copyright concerns.

The writing has been on the wall about this for years and is why I have never been on board with the "full digital revolution". Sorry, I have a better-than-average understanding of copyright law and I'm not relinquishing my already minimal consumer copyright protections and replacing them with some corporate ToS agreement for the sake of digital 'convenience'.
 
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Fbh

Gold Member
Digital goods with any sort of DRM are just glorified long term rentals.
Movie studios give less of a shit than game publishers but it doesn't mean the same doesn't technically apply to games. As far as I know no major games has been gone through this, and it might never happen, but the possibility. is always there.

Which is why I usually only buy digital stuff when heavily discounted or on places like GOG.
 

MikeM

Gold Member
Everyone who prefers digital over physical encourages this. You own nothing in the digital world. This is just the start unfortunately
 

Three

Gold Member
Just want to point out that even in the US, but definitely in Europe T&C are null and void if they are not in accordance with the local laws, in this case customer protection.
What are you doing in this 4 month old thread? EU and US laws don't protect you with these movies. You buy a movie on these digital storefronts be it Amazon video, iTunes, Windows/xbox, PS store they can pull the movies if the license owner (the company who created the movie) decides to pull it from the service:

https://www.gamesradar.com/you-dont-own-the-movies-you-buy-on-amazon-prime-video/
 

Cyberpunkd

Gold Member
What are you doing in this 4 month old thread? EU and US laws don't protect you with these movies. You buy a movie on these digital storefronts be it Amazon video, iTunes, Windows/xbox, PS store they can pull the movies if the license owner (the company who created the movie) decides to pull it from the service:

https://www.gamesradar.com/you-dont-own-the-movies-you-buy-on-amazon-prime-video/
What I’m doing in a thread that is not locked is none of your business.

To the matter at hand - do you even read what you post, or are you just smashing that Reply button?

1. The case is in California, whereas I clearly mentioned in Europe (last time I checked Germany is in Europe) has much more strict customer protection rights - one of the reasons a typical warranty is 12 months in the IS, 24 in Europe.
2. The case the article mentions havenet even been tried at the time the article was published.
3. My post was clearly in response to people using a ‘It’s in T&C’ as an end-all argument, which is factually wrong for the reasons I mentioned.

Confused Seth Meyers GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers
 
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Three

Gold Member
What I’m doing in a thread that is not locked is none of your business.
It's not but it's a weird bump
To the matter at hand - do you even read what you post, or are you just smashing that Reply button?

1. The case is in California, whereas I clearly mentioned in Europe (last time I checked Germany is in Europe) has much more strict customer protection rights - one of the reasons a typical warranty is 12 months in the IS, 24 in Europe.
2. The case the article mentions havenet even been tried at the time the article was published.
3. My post was clearly in response to people using a ‘It’s in T&C’ as an end-all argument, which is factually wrong for the reasons I mentioned.

Confused Seth Meyers GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers
The same T&C is in Europe and the UK. I'm saying that if it isn't thrown out it would be a landmark case because currently that T&C is considered legal by all these companies lawyers who aren't idiots. My brain is fine, is yours?
 
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Cyberpunkd

Gold Member
It's not but it's a weird bump

The same T&C is in Europe and the UK. I'm saying that if it isn't thrown out it would be a landmark case because currently that T&C is considered legal by all these companies lawyers who aren't idiots. My brain is fine, is yours?
Once again - T&Cs are legal only so far as not violating any laws. Companies frequently use the argument that the user clicked or purchased something automatically agreeing to the T&C so all is fine - this argument is worthless in court.

It might still be the case a court will throw out this case, but that doesn’t change anything I bow T&Cs are viewed in court, which was the point I was making.
 
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