Sony is removing access to hundreds of movies and TV shows on its PlayStation Store service next month, meaning users who previously paid for titles like Paddington and The Hunger Games will no longer be able to watch them. The shutdown affects users in Germany and Austria, according to legal notices posted on the two regional websites, and covers films produced by StudioCanal.
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The shutdown will take effect on August 31, exactly one year after Sony discontinued movie and TV show purchases through its PlayStation Store. At the time, Sony said its customers would still have access to content they had purchased . Notices posted on PlayStation’s website blame “evolving licensing agreements with content providers” for the change and say purchased content will be removed from customers’ video libraries.
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According to Variety, the change affects 314 titles in Germany and 137 in Austria. The titles affected include Chicken Run , John Wick, La La Land, Logan Lucky, Saw, Shaun the Sheep Movie and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. It's unclear whether refunds will be offered to affected customers.
While we've become accustomed to the idea that TV shows and movies can disappear from streaming services over time, leaving them inaccessible to subscribers, it's much rarer to see it happen on services that allow to purchase titles to own digitally.
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The outage serves as a critical reminder that even when you “buy” a title digitally, your ownership is still based on a retailer continuing to exist and having the right licensing agreements.
Source of information: theverge.com
