Having your favorite films and TV shows in your digital library is supposed to mean you can access them anytime, anywhere. It actually means being able to access them as long as your digital overlord allows. Polygon recently highlighted how this problem hits consumers, following a Redditor who fought to regain access to The Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition Trilogy after Google removed it from its catalogue and had to settle for a credit to start the cycle all over again.
The situation was documented on the r/piracy subreddit, where a user going by ugoindownsaka1 shared that they had lost access to their copy of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which they had purchased through Google Movies. The issue, it seems, stemmed from the fact that Google lost the rights to the collection after a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. came to an end. That meant that, by extension, this user also lost access despite paying to have the film in their collection.
Now, this isn’t exactly uncommon in the digital age. There was much ado about the matter several years ago when people learned the hard way that their digital purchases made via Apple’s iTunes could be removed at any time by the rights owner. Earlier this year, Sony announced it’d be removing a number of titles from people’s libraries due to changing licensing agreements. It’s hit games, too, with people losing access to digital titles they paid full price for once the publisher decided to stop offering support.
The Google case, more than just a reminder of how fragile digital “ownership” is, was particularly egregious because of the runaround the user had to go through to get any sort of recognition of their loss. Google’s support initially refused to provide any sort of refund for the purchase, which leaves the consumer with the worst of both worlds: they are out of the money from the initial purchase and have nothing to show for it.’
Google does have a policy in place for when situations like this happen (which should tell you that it is likely to happen again). Per the Google Play terms of service, the company states, “In certain cases (for example if Google loses the relevant rights, a service or Content is discontinued, there are critical security issues, or there are breaches of applicable terms or the law), Google may remove from your Device or cease providing you with access to certain Content that you have purchased.”
“If you are not able to download a copy of the Content before such removal or cessation,” the company adds, “Google may offer you either (a) a replacement of the Content if possible or (b) a full or partial refund of the price of the Content. If Google issues you a refund, the refund shall be your sole remedy.”
Seems reasonable enough. It just took the Redditor sharing that policy with Google’s support team to actually act on it. Per Polygon, Google did finally send the customer Google TV links to download the films and added a £20 credit to their balance, presumably so they can play another round of “Can I Keep This?” Roulette. Alas, the user said that the download links didn’t work because they require “payment to watch.”
Physical media isn’t totally foolproof—it certainly requires a lot more space—but at least when you buy a disc you can play the disc on your own terms without needing to plead with your content overlord for permission.
