Update: 22nd July, 2010: See my post from the 21st July 2010 that suggests that Universal may be getting around to selling titles to LOVEFiLM again..
Update: I’ve started a thread about it here. Some interesting replies.
I learned yesterday (despite this being announced last November) that Universal Pictures are bullying DVD and Blu-Ray rental firms like Blockbuster and LOVEFiLM into new terms for rental of their movies. In short, titles I’d like to rent from LOVEFiLM cannot be rented and I must either buy a copy of the DVD or Blu-Ray or watch it in the cinema. This is not LOVEFiLM’s fault, and I applaud them for not caving into their demands (whereas Blockbusters have, and corporate whoring such as this is absolutely deplorable and I object most strongly to any form of exclusivity of film titles – which is also why I’m against the recent announcement that Tescos are bank rolling movies for Amber Entertainment so that they can create straight-to-DVD titles to be sold exclusively through Tesco stores). I was rather looking forward to seeing Inglourious Basterds and BSG: The Plan – but no, Universal have said no to that. I bet Kick-Ass won’t be available either.
We must not forget that Universal walked out on iTunes for a short period as they were unhappy with the costs that Apple were charging their customers. Universal wanted a higher price put on their films. Apple tried to reason with them, and it failed. They eventually came back, but the result is that NBC Universal films and TV shows cost a significant amount higher than what they are on physical media. For example, to buy all four seasons of Battlestar Galactica in HD on iTunes would cost £175 whereas the Blu-Ray edition costs £101. You don’t get any of the special features on the Blu-Ray, and you’d be responsible for backing up all the media files with no option of re-downloading from iTunes should your backups fail.
Once again, film studios are becoming far too greedy, and they clearly do not trust the consumers who buy their products. I’m also immensely hacked off with Universal Music after they practically accused all iPod owners of being thieves. Therefore the whole Universal stable is worth avoiding like the plague. I will not support their films or products until they start getting around that negation table and become a lot more reasonable. I will continue to support and subscribe to LOVEFiLM for whom I feel have done the right thing. They cannot and must not be bullied or threatened into deals that are unfair and unjust.
In other news, I hear that Warners Music is looking to get out of Spotify and other free streaming services. If this happens (and especially with Spotify Premium), then I’ll boycott Warners too.
I’ve already just made my stand against Universal and I hope they choke on it.
Welcome! Vivendi-Universal have been bad news for years. I haven’t quite boycotted them, but it does discourage me from going near something if it has their mark on it. It’s disappointing that we don’t seem to have the same creativity in liberally-licensed film and video that we do in music, audio and text.