Blu-ray pushed via digital copy

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30 Apr 09 00:09 by Jared Newman in category Uncategorized To news archive

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Friday the 13th fans who want both a digital and physical copy of the 2009 remake will pay extra for the DVD version, but not for Blu-ray.

Warner Home Video will sell a digital version of the movie for $1.99 along with the DVD, while Blu-ray buyers will get the digital copy for free, Video Business reports. The extra charge, plus $28.99 for the DVD, comes within $5 of the Blu-ray and digital combination.

The Blu-ray version will also include several extra perks, such as two featurettes, picture-in-picture trivia and the ability to organize online screenings with other owners of web-enabled Blu-ray players.

This seems like an obvious ploy to draw more consumers to Blu-ray, though Warner has said most users of digital media are Blu-ray owners.

Video Business points out that the number of studios giving away free digital copies with a DVD purchase is on the rise. Notably, 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate both partnered with iTunes to provide a compatible digital copy along with the DVD. If Warner expands the $1.99 digital idea beyond Friday the 13th, it will be among a smaller group charging an optional premium.

This is an important issue, especially as RealNetworks battles Hollywood over its RealDVD program, which rips DVD files to a computer. I’m not a legal expert, but purely from a consumer standpoint, there should be some way for owners of a DVD to view the film as they see fit and make backup copies. If the consumer is suddenly charged extra for that privilege, RealDVD’s software suddenly becomes more important and legitimate.

12 Comments

BitRate: Posts: 410; Posted on: 30 Apr 09 08:55

I predicted this type of discriminatory marketing tactic would happen when Blu-ray started to gain some momentum. In a word - IT SUCKS! Why the hell should SD-DVD users be punished and excluded from getting mostly useless "special features" and have to pay extra to get the digital copy ? They are being punished for not pandering to the Blu-ray hype machine and sticking to a proven format they're satisfied with. The studios can get fucked for all I care - I'm not going to support a new format that offers very little improvement over DVD and costs a bomb. I'll continue to use channelBT and give the greedy studios the big finger.

ferd: Posts: 243; Posted on: 30 Apr 09 11:39

Too bad it's the crappy umpteenth remake of a less-than-mediocre movie.
I hear they're going to offer a digital copy with the Blu-ray release of "Plan 9 from Outer Space".

Dr. Who: Posts: 4502; Posted on: 30 Apr 09 14:15

This is a good move to help push Blu-Ray. Can't wait till they have unique releases instead of remakes though.

Crabbyappleton: Posts: 5756; Posted on: 30 Apr 09 16:05

I think that due to the DMCA trumping fair Use, that this "push" is a slap in the face to the consumer. It is perfectly legal to make backups of your digital purchases, thanks to fair Use laws, but it is illegal to circumvent copy protections due to the idustry sponsored Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Therefore, if the studios wish to protect their goods, they BY LAW should be REQUIRED to offer the backup version for free.

Some Random Guy: Posts: 546; Posted on: 30 Apr 09 17:18

I laughed every time I saw the word "free" in that description. As if the digital copy isn't somehow built into the cost of the Blu-ray set.

dentman42: Posts: 642; Posted on: 30 Apr 09 22:09

Am I the only one that finds the term "digital copy" ridiculous? OF COURSE it's a DIGITAL copy, its DVD or BLU-RAY. They're DIGITAL FORMATS! ALL DVDs have a digital copy - otherwise they'd be blank!

Blu-rayFreak: Posts: 225; Posted on: 01 May 09 01:57

Yeah "digital copy" is pretty dumb. I also agree that if they don't want you to backup your discs, they should at the very least provide a "digital copy", although even that is not equivalent, since it's usually encoded in a lower res format.

ivid: Posts: 386; Posted on: 01 May 09 05:16

Punished ? thats funny. BR customers are getting rewarded with a little bonus. Big deal. That's not punishing DVD customers. Making them watch crappy SD-DVD video is the punishment IMO.

BR is far better looking than DVD I can vouch for that. If you don't see it you have vision problems.Whether is worth it to you is a whole other story... to each their own.

guest: Posts: 15288; Posted on: 01 May 09 16:43

I knew someone was going to mention that. It seems to be the commonplace term, but can you suggest a better one? File copy? Computer copy? We don't have the specifics of file type, so we can't use that in this situation.

steveo119: Posts: 291; Posted on: 01 May 09 22:44

its not dumb if you own a psp or a mobile phone that runs the digital copy on it!

guest: Posts: 15288; Posted on: 03 May 09 03:22

Ha HA...not dogital copy..just DRM infested crap...I make my own digital copies of my movies LOL...why pay extra for this sh*t..I will pay extra for dvd and bluray in same package though

guest: Posts: 15288; Posted on: 06 May 09 04:17

Totally. I tried out one of these digital copies once just for comic relief, so much DRM bullshit it made me nauseous. I'll take my XviD rip thanks.

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