Not only would a movie like Blazing Saddles not be made today, if certain trends continue, somewhere down the road you won't be able to stream it either. If Bezos & the GOOG decide you shouldn't see something, will the cry go up: "When films are outlawed, only outlaws will have, ermm, Blue-ray!"
Or something.
From The Register, December 22:
From ebooks, to videos and software, the answer is increasingly no
Opinion What do Amazon, Sony, and Broadcom all have in common? Give up? Each, in their own way, has made it clear that when you buy something from them, you don't actually own it.
Going back to 2009, Amazon dropped 1984 and Animal Farm from its Kindle eReaders. You may have thought you owned copies of these classic George Orwell books, but you were wrong. Amazon said they'd discovered they hadn't the right to sell the books, so they deleted them from your eReaders. Eventually, Amazon restored those books, but a precedent had been set. Amazon, not you, owns your eBooks.
To quote from Amazon's copyright policy: "All content included in or made available through Amazon Business, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips, digital downloads, data compilations, and software is the property of Amazon or its content suppliers and protected by U.S. and international copyright Laws. The compilation of all content included in or made available through any Amazon Business Service is the exclusive property of Amazon and protected by U.S. and international copyright Laws."
Funny, as I look at my large library of old-style books, I never had to worry about that with them. They all belong to me. Eventually, they'll go to my daughter's home or a library. My eBooks? They're off to the digital dustbin as soon as I'm under the ground.
Much more recently, Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that as of December 31, 2023, users can no longer watch their previously purchased Discovery video content on their PlayStations. I'd never bought copies of Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch, How It’s Made or My 600-Pound Life myself, but someone did. If I were in their shoes, I'd be ticked.
What's that? Can't they always stream those shows? Can they? Not always. Take, for example, perhaps the best, most realistic American crime show, Homicide: Life on the Street. I love that show, and I have it on DVD, but the DVDs aren't available in the States now, and the show isn't available to stream anywhere. Like other shows, its rights are locked up in a mess and may never be available. This is especially poignant since the star, Andre Braugher, recently died, and many people want to see his signature role as Detective Frank Pembleton....
....MUCH MORE, it gets worse.
