Warner: Destroy, don't sell, these discs

Warner Home Video is suing a firm that's supposed to destroy the studio's old DVDs and Blu-ray discs, because the firm was allegedly selling them instead.

It's news to me that there's even an industry for this. Warner apparently partners with Cinram Distribution for the destruction or recycle of unsold movie discs. These are discs that weren't sold at retail, but that Warner fears will cannibalize the sale of newer, more expensive products if liquidated on the cheap.

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Cinram, in turn, subcontracts with other companies for the destruction work. One of these companies is IWMB, which Warner alleges has sold roughly 1 million discs back to retailers for below market price, Video Business reports. The lawsuit, filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims that roughly 750,000 of these cheap movies have already been sold back to customers.

dvddestroy

Warner claims that it has lost $10 million as a result of IWMB's actions, due to lost sales of other movies.

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The lawsuit comes at a time when studios are trying to limit the amount of used disc sales at retail. Video Business notes that a recent revenue-sharing agreement between Warner and a company called Rentrak limits the amount of used movies that can be sold from rental stores. As part of the agreement, stores are required to destroy as much as 80 percent of their stock, depending on how successful the movie is at the box office.

That's a lot of waste, even if it's recycled, and it's also a lot of content people could be watching. From a business perspective, I won't fuss about the destruction of old DVDs and Blu-ray discs, as the concern over devaluing new titles seems valid. But if anything, this is another great argument for the merits of downloadable video.

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