I am ready to abandon ship

[Bill@LakeGeorge]

I decided I wanted to see an old movie, Network circa 1976. It actually was in the Vudu catalog, the problem is for purchase only. This is total BS a 32 year old movie for purchase only.

[Nded]

Re: I am ready to abandon ship

It would be interesting to see what other outlets offer this for rent vs. purchase. If you've got nothing better to do, try calling blockbuster and other channels and report back here what alternatives were offering what you wanted - "Network" for rental.

[redwein]

Re: I am ready to abandon ship

I decided I wanted to see an old movie, Network circa 1976. It actually was in the Vudu catalog, the problem is for purchase only. This is total BS a 32 year old movie for purchase only.

While I understand your frustration with the rental situation, isn't abandoning ship a little extreme? Exactly what is the penalty/cost of using Vudu for watching the things that it does have that you want to see? Even if you succeed at driving to Blockbuster and getting Network today, is that really what you want to do from that point on? If you were Netflix only and then decided to see Network, you couldn't exactly have it materialize at your house if it wasn't the movie that you were currently holding from your queue. And the Netflix VOD lacks movies that Vudu has too.

[jleavens]

Re: I am ready to abandon ship

Yeah. It's not listed for either rent or sale on the Apple site. And Netflix lists it, but doesn't make very clear what's available for streaming.

[vino17]

Re: I am ready to abandon ship

It sounds like one of two reasons for that:


1 - The VOD rights for that title are locked up in a TV agreement (unlikely, given the film's age). Or...

2 - The company that has licensed the film to Vudu only controls Home Video rights to the title, which only allows for the purchase of a film. They would likely need TV / VOD rights as well in order to grant electronic rental to Vudu (much more likely a scenario).


The question then becomes "Who has the TV rights to the film?" Unfortunately, there's no easy answer. There is no rights database in existence (at least that I'm aware of) that allows one to input a film and find out who is carrying various distribution rights for titles across various territories. If there were such a service (like an IMDB directory for rights holders) it would make Vudu's job much easier.

The rights could still be held by the producer, another company, or even a foreign entity which had acquired worldwide rights for the title at some point within the last 30+ years. There are even many instances where the producer will sell the actual film's copyright to a distribution entity who then goes out of business, and the rights and assets are then held by that entity's bank or lender until those assets are sold off.

Also, especially with repect to older films, it may not be clear just who, exactly, controls certain rights. 30 years ago, home video rights were not even established, let alone digital distribution rights. So it very well may be the case that two entities both have a legitimate claim to those rights, and as such, neither one is exploiting them for fear of litigation from the other.

This is an example of the kind of conversations occurring on a daily basis in Hollywood right now:


Entity 1: "We control Home Video rights, and 'electronic rental' should be considered a part of that grant.

Entity 2: "Electronic Rental is just another phrase for VOD. VOD is inherently a TV grant of rights, therefore we control it."

Entity 3: "I'm the producer and I hold the copyright for the film. Digital distribution was never expressly granted to either one of you, and per our contract, any right not expressly granted is reserved by me, the original Licensor."

Entity 4: "We're the music publisher, and the music licensed for the film was never cleared for electronic distribution, so before any of you does anything with that film, we better get paid."


As a result of the development of digital distribution, conversations between various legal and business affairs departments lately resemble old west shootouts and political "what is the definition of 'is'?" moments more than the nod-nod, wink-wink, arm-in-arm dealings of the past where the only obstacles to overcome were up-front $$ and back-end splits.


The bottom line is that the issues are universal... it's not just Vudu facing them. They'll likely be resolved over time... remember, digital distribtuion is still in its infancy.

[Rusdude]

Re: I am ready to abandon ship

What Vino said is true. Plus, there's a sticky post that talks about why some movies aren't available.

Actually, I'd consider the fact that you found a movie that's 30 years old to be pretty cool. I am sure everyone here could name a more recent movie that isn't available even for purchase.

Plus, if it's an old movie, it's probably only $9.99 which is, what, a cost of a trip to Blockbuster and back?

[jleavens]

Re: I am ready to abandon ship

Great post vino....

[Bill@LakeGeorge]

Re: I am ready to abandon ship

Well Amazon has it so I guess I can just use my Tivo to download it $3.99. Someone is going to get this right some day and they will be the winner.

[NA9D]

Re: I am ready to abandon ship

The key to remember is that Vudu is intended to be a PART of your home entertainment solution not the only solution.

Also, please see my sticky post about licensing. It dovetails w/what Vino stated.

[orccro1]

Re: I am ready to abandon ship

yes, Netflix lists it for instant watch.

--orccro