08 July 2022

About that film you bought: you don't own it anymore!


In a move that will undoubtedly draw severe criticism, movies from Studio Canal that customers have purchased on the PlayStation Store will be completely removed next month.

The legal notice is published on PlayStation's German and Austrian websites where it reads (translated):

As of August 31, 2022, due to our evolving licensing agreements with content providers, you will no longer be able to view your previously purchased Studio Canal content and it will be removed from your video library.
We greatly appreciate your continued support.
Thank you
PlayStation Store

In other words, customers will lose access to movies such as Apocalypse Now, Django, John Wick, La La Land, Saw and The Hunger Games that they purchased on the PlayStation Store. Not rented, but purchased.

Do you really own digital movies? The development reignites the debate around digital movie purchases and naturally lead consumers to wonder what comes next?

Will Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft and others similarly remove customers' purchased movies when the tech giants lose interest in their movie storefronts?

So far, there are no indications that they will but Sony PlayStation's decision certainly serves as a grim example. In the US, customers have some protection through digital movie locker Movies Anywhere, but no such fallback option exists internationally.


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