Lionsgate joins Apple's Digital Copy for iTunes program
Leading indie film house Lionsgate said Monday that it is working with Apple to provide Digital Copy for iTunes, offering customers who purchase select DVDs an additional copy of the film formatted for iTunes.
Just like movies purchased from the iTunes Store, an iTunes Digital Copy is easily transferred from a DVD disc to iTunes, where it can then be viewed on a Mac or PC, or synced to an iPod, iPhone or widescreen television connected to Apple TV.
Lionsgate is just second studio to announce support for the program, joining Twentieth Century Fox, which helped launch the initiative with Apple back in January. The first Lionsgate DVDs to debut with iTunes Digital Copy will be the special edition DVD and Blu-ray releases of "Rambo" on May 27th, and "The Eye" latter this summer. In addition, Lionsgate and Apple said they plan to deliver numerous other films on DVD with iTunes Digital Copy later this year.
"Lionsgate is constantly identifying fresh opportunities to monetize its 12,000-title filmed entertainment library in an increasingly digital world and provide product that is at the very cutting edge of consumer taste," said Steve Beeks, President and co-Chief Operating Officer of Lionsgate. "Our consumers are always looking for new viewing options in terms of the motion pictures they buy, and we are always searching for new ways to deliver content in formats that reflect consumer preference across the entire home entertainment spectrum, from packaged media to digital storage to VOD."
Once a customer buys a Digital Copy-equipped DVD, he or she inserts it into their computer, enters a unique code into iTunes, and the movie is automatically copied to their iTunes library. Each DVD will only transfer its iTunes Digital Copy to one iTunes library, and an iTunes account is required for the process.
Lionsgate is one of several studios which offer a wide variety of movies for rental and purchase on the iTunes Store, including recent hit releases like "3:10 to Yuma," "Good Luck Chuck," and the action film "War" in addition to classic library titles like "Dirty Dancing" and "Reservoir Dogs."
Just like movies purchased from the iTunes Store, an iTunes Digital Copy is easily transferred from a DVD disc to iTunes, where it can then be viewed on a Mac or PC, or synced to an iPod, iPhone or widescreen television connected to Apple TV.
Lionsgate is just second studio to announce support for the program, joining Twentieth Century Fox, which helped launch the initiative with Apple back in January. The first Lionsgate DVDs to debut with iTunes Digital Copy will be the special edition DVD and Blu-ray releases of "Rambo" on May 27th, and "The Eye" latter this summer. In addition, Lionsgate and Apple said they plan to deliver numerous other films on DVD with iTunes Digital Copy later this year.
"Lionsgate is constantly identifying fresh opportunities to monetize its 12,000-title filmed entertainment library in an increasingly digital world and provide product that is at the very cutting edge of consumer taste," said Steve Beeks, President and co-Chief Operating Officer of Lionsgate. "Our consumers are always looking for new viewing options in terms of the motion pictures they buy, and we are always searching for new ways to deliver content in formats that reflect consumer preference across the entire home entertainment spectrum, from packaged media to digital storage to VOD."
Once a customer buys a Digital Copy-equipped DVD, he or she inserts it into their computer, enters a unique code into iTunes, and the movie is automatically copied to their iTunes library. Each DVD will only transfer its iTunes Digital Copy to one iTunes library, and an iTunes account is required for the process.
Lionsgate is one of several studios which offer a wide variety of movies for rental and purchase on the iTunes Store, including recent hit releases like "3:10 to Yuma," "Good Luck Chuck," and the action film "War" in addition to classic library titles like "Dirty Dancing" and "Reservoir Dogs."
Comments
(the good Vancouver not the other one down south)
Thanks for reminding me, I forgot about the Vancouver in Nunavut.
But seriously now, given how easy it is to re-appropriate the actual DVD, I'm kind of surprised a studio bothers to do this. I suppose it's the legal alternative.
The ability to have access to digital copies without going through the hokey and illegal pokey really adds value to Lionsgate's releases. Additionally, the integration with iTunes delivery system will encourage less technically savvy consumers to purchase portable playback devices like iTouch.
Smart move.
also it says a digital copy will be provided w/ blu-ray, if it's on the disc, how do you get it onto your computer with no blu-ray compatible drive on any mac?
on another note, I have no prob. using hand-brake but would certainly like this better if its quicker w/ higher res.
is the resolution going to be consistent with what would be available on itunes? or, since you are loading it from a dvd, which should be fairly quicker then downloading it from itunes, will it be of larger size/ resolution?
I think the goal is that they are playable on iPods, so, no.
also it says a digital copy will be provided w/ blu-ray, if it's on the disc, how do you get it onto your computer with no blu-ray compatible drive on any mac?
You use one of the many Blu-ray drives that you can buy for any computer.
on another note, I have no prob. using hand-brake but would certainly like this better if its quicker w/ higher res.
It's not going to be higher resolution. the point is to prevent piracy by offering an alternative to people to copy DVDs for mobile platforms. This is a great comprimise. Surely, there will be those that spend hours transcoding their DVDs for personal use but a good majority just want a mobile version. That means the qualty will be no more than 640x480 resolution @ 30fps and 1.5Mbps.
It would also be a way for studios to bundle their movies since Apple will likely never allow it on the iTunes Store...buy these 3 good movies and we'll throw in these other 2 for free! You could probably even get the entire season of a TV show on a single disc which would save manufacturing costs.
I'm not sure Apple would go for it since it would compete with iTunes sales, but maybe they get a cut. Or maybe they accept it as a way to build market share of digital video and increase sales of iPods and AppleTV.
[edit: Just double-checked on this, and no, it does come from the disk. Initial reports of people using it thought it was being downloaded from the internet because it apparently copies the file to the computer via the "Downloads" section on itunes. here
Of course, an even better solution would be for the courts to rule that when you buy a DVD and rip the movie to your iPod that it falls under fair use. Then I could do it with everything.
My understanding is that you download the file via itunes - it's not on the disk itself, as silly as that seems.
My understanding is that the file is local on the diskand comes with a serial key. This key will then match itself against a free key in the iTunes DB. Once signed to your iTS account the seial key can no longer be used with another account and the video is given the appropriate individual signing, like with iPod games, to play.
But I could be wrong.
Hm, I wonder if there would be a market for studios to take their old movies and put a bunch of them on a single DVD, specifically for iTunes/iPod/AppleTV consumption (ie, there's no DVD movie on the disk, just the iTunes vesion)? It would be an option for people who don't have fast enough internet connections or don't have the time/inclination to rip DVDs themselves. And you'd automatically have a back-up on DVD in case your hard drive crashes.
It would also be a way for studios to bundle their movies since Apple will likely never allow it on the iTunes Store...buy these 3 good movies and we'll throw in these other 2 for free! You could probably even get the entire season of a TV show on a single disc which would save manufacturing costs.
I'm not sure Apple would go for it since it would compete with iTunes sales, but maybe they get a cut. Or maybe they accept it as a way to build market share of digital video and increase sales of iPods and AppleTV.
Nice idea. Studios would have to offer a reasonable price, which would probably be
the biggest stumbling block.
My understanding is that you download the file via itunes - it's not on the disk itself, as silly as that seems.
I think you are wrong. When the word "download" is being used, I think they are simply referring to it being copied from the disk into iTunes.
Are the copies protected so that, once imported into itunes, they can be played on another computer (without the DVD)?
I can rip any DVD with Handbrake to my iPhone. Why would I care if it came with this Digital Copy?
Because it's illegal, it takes significantly longer to transcode than to copy a pre-formatted file, and not everyone is savvy enough or willing to go through the trouble.
Are the copies protected so that, once imported into itunes, they can be played on another computer (without the DVD)?
Yes, so long as they are authorized to that iTunes Store Account, as I understand it.
That "illegal" thing is really stopping people, isn't it?
Not everyone takes a flippant attitude toward laws. Regardless, it was one of several reason I mentioned.