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Paying for direct movie downloads (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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This recent YouTube video from LTT on the topic of ripping DVDs and Blu-rays has got me wondering:

I'm not a big fan of stores, hoarding physical stuff and DVDs and Blu-rays, but I do love owning my stuff digitally and supporting the artists. Is there a service that let's you buy the movie, TV series or anime that you want to watch and then simply download it to your drive? No app, no subscription bs, no delivery, just straight money for an .mkv file and that's it?

TL:DR: Is there an equivalent to Qobuz but for visual enjoyment?

Edit: So in summary, the often repeated mantra of "piracy exists because it is more convenient than traditional services" doesn't just apply to subscription streaming services, it applies to direct digital movie purchases too. I suppose the best approach remains to split the "supporting artists" part from the "digital file getting" part, at least until a service with a modern catalogue pops up that unifies the two parts.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago (2 children)

UltraViolet almost let you do this, but of course there was all sorts of proprietary fuckery to deal with. They shut down in 2019.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UltraViolet_(website)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

I knew the moment I saw these stickers on my dvds that the links to the online content would never last. This happens to me with textbooks all the time - oh great - digital searchable access to the content, but then after awhile the hosting site goes under or changes hands and it's never easy to just download the content. Whether I purchase a text or not. I always try to find a pdf version of it that I can just save. No one is going to let this legally happen with video in any kind of format that you would be satisfied with. Pirating is often the only way to really own useable digital copies of media. Im at the point where I would prefer the simplicity of paying a fair fee to easily download an unfettered mkv file, but I don't see that becoming a real thing.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

Interesting concept. If I understand it correctly it didn't truly let you own the stuff that you bought. It instead gave you a proof-of-purchase allowing you to stream your purchased content on different streaming platforms (like Netflix, etc) as long as you have that one proof-of-purchase. However, if the platforms remove your purchased content from their catalogues at any time, it would be gone. So you're right, almost but not quite like DVD.

I wonder why the notoriously copyright-obsessed music industry allows retailers to sell digital copies (and high-quality ones), while the film-industry doesn't.