Next month, Sony will disable access to hundreds of movies and television shows that were previously available for purchase through its PlayStation Store service. This means that customers who have already paid for movies and shows like Paddington and The Hunger Games will no longer be able to view them. According to legal warnings that have been put on the websites of Germany and Austria, users in those countries are affected by the closure, which affects films that StudioCanal created.
See also: Could Apple AirPods become hearing aids?
When Will Purchased Movies Be Inaccessible?
On the 31st of August, the closure will go into effect, marking precisely one year after Sony stopped allowing customers to buy movies and television shows via its digital shop. At the time, Sony assured its consumers that they would continue to have access to the material they had previously bought from the company. The change is attributed to "changing licensing arrangements with content providers," according to notices that have been put on the PlayStation website. The notices also state that bought material will be deleted from the video collections of PlayStation subscribers.
Variety reports that the adjustment will have an effect on 314 films in Germany and 137 titles in Austria. The following movies are among those that have been affected: Chicken Run, John Wick, La La Land, Logan Lucky, Saw, Shaun the Sheep Movie, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. It is yet unknown whether or not impacted consumers would be eligible for reimbursements.
Does Purchasing A Movie Mean Your Own It?
Although we have become accustomed to the idea that movies and television shows can vanish from streaming services over time, making them inaccessible to subscribers, this phenomenon occurs much less frequently on services that allow you to purchase digital copies of titles for your personal collection. When Flixster Video went down, Pocket-Lint noted that certain titles weren't compatible with the Google Play conversion procedure designed to enable UK consumers to continue access to them after Flixster Video closed its doors. This is not to imply that this is an extremely rare occurrence. In the past, Apple's usage of the term "purchase" for digital titles to keep the right to withdraw access has even been challenged legally because Apple maintains the ability to remove access.
The closure serves as an important and timely reminder that even if you "purchase" a game digitally, your ownership of that title frequently still depends on a store continuing to exist and having the appropriate licensing relationships in place. This is true even if you "buy" a title digitally. If you want to be sure that you possess anything permanently, your best choice is still going to be to buy it in physical form, but this is not always the case.
Featured image: Sony Pictures
Subscribe to Whitepapers.online to learn about new updates and changes made by tech giants that affect health, marketing, business, and other fields. Also, if you like our content, please share on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and more.