MattSnodBlog

When you purchased that DVD, Blu-Ray, or CD for Christmas, what were you buying? The packaging? The discs? In actuality, what you're really purchasing is a license to view or listen to it. You're entering into a contract with the publisher that grants you permission to watch or listen to the content for limited personal use. In fact, you don't own the movie or album. You're sort of renting it (permanently).

But again I ask, what are you buying? You're not really paying for the physical disc or packaging -- that's a marginal cost for the studios. The disc is not the movie -- the movie is the movie. So what does that mean? For consumers, it should mean that you now have the right to own and view the movie in any way you see fit that's also covered by the "private use" terms of the license. You should be able to copy it, back it up, play it in your minivan, iPod, computer, TV, refrigerator, wristwatch ... whatever! For the studios, it traditionally meant that they only wanted you to "own" and have rights to watch the physical copy you purchased. That's simply absurd. They can't have it both ways -- rent you a license to the content and then not sell you another cheaper physical copy when yours breaks, or complain (or sue) when you make a copy of the content for your "private use."

That's why I was glad to see this holiday season so many studios packaging digital copies of movies with the Blu-Ray version. Better yet, the version of Disney's "Up" that our kids got, has not only a digital copy with the Blu-Ray but also a DVD version. Brilliant. Now my kids can watch the Blu-Ray version on our HDTV, the digital copy on their iPod Nano, and the DVD in the car. This is how the ecosystem should work. Studios have to stop swimming against the tide by thinking that they're in the disc-selling business.

I applaud Disney for simplifying the process, rather than fight people who would otherwise be ripping the Blu-Ray to make those other versions anyway (which in my opinion is a legal private use). They could take this one step further and increase the number of digital copies you can transfer to a device or remove that restriction altogether. In most households nowadays, you'll find numerous iPods.