No Refunds: Playstation Takes Movies Away From Customers Who Purchased VOD
551 titles are leaving Playstation on September 1
Streaming may have been the big innovation of the 2010s, but there’s a reason that physical media is making a comeback in the 2020s. Because even when you buy digital copies of movies from VOD platforms like Prime Video, Apple TV, or, in this case, PlayStation, you never truly own your content. And it can be taken away at any time.
That’s what’s happening to PlayStation customers this September. Sony’s licensing deal with distributor StudioCanal is about to expire. StudioCanal’s Youtube page describes itself as “Europe’s leading movie & television studio with one of the world’s largest film libraries,” so it’s not surprising that over 500 TV shows and movies are about to disappear from the PlayStation store.
But rather than negotiating to extend the StudioCanal deal or reimbursing customers, Sony is simply removing them from customers’ libraries with no refunds.
Normally, I’d have some advice about “what to do before they expire,” but there’s not much you can do here. Unlike when Google Play shut down its music service, you can’t download your library to use it somewhere else. All you can do is watch your library while you still can and then try to re-purchase your titles elsewhere.
But if you’re wondering exactly which titles are affected, keep reading. I’ll highlight some of the shows and movies I think you’re most likely to have. And then I’ll recommend some other options in case you’re thinking of leaving the PlayStation ecosystem.
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How do I know which movies are getting removed?
The only silver lining in this situation is that Sony helpfully spelled out each and every movie getting removed from its platform. Well, considering that the list is labeled as a “Legal notice” on its site, Sony likely didn’t have a choice in the matter.
But either way, we know the names of all 551 TV shows and movies leaving the platform. Head over to PlayStation’s website to read the full list. StudioCanal, which owns the rights to all of these titles, is a French company, so there are a lot of French names in there. But they also own plenty of English-language hits, too, and some of them might be in your own library.
Here are some of the biggest titles that I noticed:
Movies leaving PlayStation
- “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”
- “Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut”
- “Big Eyes”
- “Bridget Jones’s Diary”
- “Evil Dead” (2013)
- “He Named Me Malala”
- “Highlander”
- “Hot Fuzz”
- “Murder on the Orient Express”
- “Paddington”
- “Pan’s Labyrinth”
- “Rambo First Blood”
- “Sharknado”
- “Silver Linings Playbook”
- “Song of the Sea”
- “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”
- “This Is Spinal Tap”
- “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
TV Shows leaving PlayStation
- “American Gods” Season 1
- “Below the Surface” Season 1
- “Crossing Lines” Season 1–3
- “Midnight Sun” Season 1
- “The Young Pope” Season 1–2
- “Versailles” Season 2–3
Other VOD storefronts
I can’t promise this problem won’t happen with other VOD storefronts; removals are a problem with all intangible media. Unfortunately, there’s no DRM-free storefront for movies. But if this situation with PlayStation is making you angry enough to change platforms, here are some recommendations:
It won’t surprise you that you can buy anything on Amazon, including TV shows and movies. Yes, you can subscribe to Prime to get a huge streaming library, but if you want to own titles, you can also rent or buy things from its VOD storefront. But with licensing restrictions (and whatever went down with Amazon Luna), you may be better off using Amazon to build your physical media library through CDs and DVDs instead.
“Apple TV” is the name of Apple’s subscription service, VOD storefront, and streaming device. It’s a confusing naming convention, but rest assured that you can both stream Apple Originals and purchase shows from other production companies through the Apple TV storefront.
Other options
If you’re really looking to future-proof your media collection, you should avoid VOD storefronts. Instead, try investing in physical media. And if you have a media collection locally on your computer, you can always set up a Plex or Jellyfin server and access your movies from any other device, like your TV or tablet.
Plex is a neat service, often used by tech enthusiasts, that lets you host your own local media library on a server. If you have an always-running device like a single-board computer or a mini PC, you can essentially create your own streaming service. It’s less complicated than it sounds; our tech expert Eric Chiu has a how-to guide with everything you need to know.
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