What rights do I have to digital movies, TV shows, and music I buy online?
That question was on the minds of Telstra TV Box Office customers this month after the company announced it was shutting down the service in June. Customers were told they would no longer be able to access the movies and TV shows they purchased unless they moved to another service, Fetch.
This isn’t just about Netflix removing Friends from its service after its content contract expired. These were movies and shows that people bought with the expectation of watching them whenever they wanted, indefinitely.
Vicki Russell posted on X last week that she was asked by Telstra to pay Fetch $200 to maintain access to $2,500 worth of purchases.
“I’ve been buying movies for years and now my library is all wiped out. What a terrible thing to do,” she posted.
She later said Telstra had contacted her and offered her a free Fetch box, admitting it was a “reasonable solution”.
A Telstra spokesperson said this was a rights issue and meant customers would need to move to a similar content service to continue accessing content. A spokesperson said customers have been unable to make new purchases since the end of September last year, and customers have been migrating to Fetch since December.
“We’ve partnered with Fetch as our new entertainment platform, allowing customers to migrate the majority of their movies and shows purchased on Telstra TV Box Office,” a spokesperson said.
Content “may no longer be available”
In the days of VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray, when someone bought a movie from a store, it was theirs to play as long as it was playable. And even in the pre-streaming digital era, people could, and generally still do, buy files for movies, TV shows, and music. Unless some companies have placed digital rights management locks on these files, they can usually continue to play as long as you have a player that can read the files.
Shannan Corney, a lecturer in computing and information systems at the University of Melbourne, said the streaming era was now well established and ownership was heavily influenced by terms and conditions that people didn’t often read.
“When you click to buy or rent content online, just like everything else you do online, there will always be a box somewhere stating that the Terms of Use apply.
“It is unreasonable to expect consumers to read these terms and conditions.” [but] In the case of Telstra TV Box Office, there was a whole section dedicated to how content could be taken down.
Such provisions are fairly standard in technology companies. Customers can rent or purchase movies through Amazon Prime, and the company’s terms of service state that content “generally remains available for download or streaming… but may no longer be available…Amazon provides We do not take any responsibility for this.”
Apple’s iTunes, which allows users to download purchased files, has a similar clause, and while it’s unlikely that the content will become unavailable, you can still download and back up all purchased files to your device. “We need to make the content enjoyable.”
In March, game developer Ubisoft furious hardcore fans Ten years ago, online racing game The Crew cut off access to customers who had paid for the game and continued playing. Ubisoft justified the move by saying it will allow the company to focus its resources on newer and more popular titles.
Appeal options are relatively limited. A spokesperson for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) told Guardian Australia: “When goods or services are provided under a license agreement, businesses are misleading consumers about their rights under the Australian Consumer Law. Don’t give it away,” he said.
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“Very clear disclosure”
Telstra’s announcement prompted many at X to suggest an alternative path: online piracy.
Corney said there are strong moral arguments to explain why people resort to downloading pirated content via torrent websites, but there are no legal arguments.
“This is not to suggest that people should go out and do this, but it certainly gives moral strength to proponents of piracy,” he said. “And I think the more media companies engage in this kind of bait-and-switch, the more piracy will increase and the more this kind of protection work becomes more attractive to people.”
Coinciding with the emergence of streaming services in the 2010s, movie studios used anti-piracy laws passed by the former Coalition government to force Australian internet service providers to block thousands of pirated websites through court orders. forced to block.
Users now have to use a virtual private network connection to access these sites, and rights holders claim this hurdle has significantly reduced copyright infringement in Australia.
To pay content creators and maintain consumer rights, Corney said content needs to be more easily portable between services so users don’t have to stay with the company they originally purchased it from. Stated.
He said some video game companies and music and movie services allow you to download copies without requiring a permanent connection with the service provider owner or media owner.
“Another approach is to actually buy a physical copy.”
A better approach, Corney said, is to make it clear to consumers what they’re actually getting when they make a purchase.
“There are mandatory rules in place about what is included in the terms… If a provider wants to provide content in a way that violates them, there is no substantive rule that says it is in the consumer’s interest. We need an indication.''’ Additionally, we disclosed very clearly about that particular change. ”
Source: www.theguardian.com
