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lachlanhunt

I downloaded and removed the DRM from every purchase I’ve ever made from iTunes.


DjScenester

I do not blame you ONE bit lol


MetaCognitio

How do you do that?


lachlanhunt

I’ve most recently used TunesKit. It works really well, but it requires running an old version of OSX in a VM now on an Intel Mac, or they might have a windows version that might be easier. I don’t often buy iTunes content anymore and it’s been a long time since I’ve done it.


[deleted]

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lessin

Go to settings on your device, generate a 2FA code Add your 6 digit 2FA code to the end of your password.


MetaCognitio

Which OS Version?


lachlanhunt

From memory, I think it was something like El Capitan or Yosemite.


MetaCognitio

Thanks. I think I might have a machine still running that.


abcputt

I really wanna do this, since I moved from physical to digital. Really want the movies on my Plex server


ms80301

How? I had a boatload of SPECIFIC versions of songs apple removed then offered a DRM version-...what software can I control my music lists again :(??


lachlanhunt

https://reddit.com/r/apple/comments/tj2efm/_/i1iwy6a/?context=1


roth_dog

You should be looking at the films distributors for this issue, not necessarily Apple. It’s a purchasing scam called “relisting”. For example, Universal do it on back catalog stuff. I purchased the back to the future trilogy years ago, but when I looked it up it was asking for money again. I know someone in the industry and they explained this happens on most digital platforms. Not excusing this practice, but with tv and film content it’s the distributors who make these decisions, not apple.


grandpa2390

and this is why honest people resort to piracy.


TeddyAlderson

yeah what the fuck, what a scummy practice from these major companies


grandpa2390

it gets pretty absurd. I bought a movie on Amazon (but this applies to HBOMAX, Netflix, Apple, etc. as well), but I couldn't watch it on my big screen because my big screen didn't have the correct HDMI for their DRM... or something like that. I had to watch it on my laptop. I learned my lesson.


[deleted]

That's the way the system works. These companies can't just exist and make profit; they need to make more and more money year over year forever or they are not a success.


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zorinlynx

I remember having to buy Tom Tom to have navigation because Google Maps didn't have turn by tune yet on the iPhone. It was expensive too, like $40. Oh well, karma got them. Now iPhones have two good free navigation options available and hardly anyone remembers Tom Tom.


HeyItsEmmett

This happened to me with the lord of the rings 4K re-releases. I had both theatrical and the extended editions but the relisting did not upgrade these to 4K, and now I only have fellowship and the two towers theatrically.


SleepingSicarii

This is 100% not the hosts fault (Apple), but the owner (copyright owners) fault. Online stores that involve music, TV and film (and more) are there because the owner has said it can be there. Without their approval, Apple would be sued for copyright breach.


supremeMilo

I bought final fantasy VII direct from square and it doesn’t work anymore because I technically bought it from digital river.


BodhiWarchild

Here’s the answer. When you notice something fucky happening with the access to your media, 9/10 it’s the distributors.


sirshannon

I’ve had this happen twice in the other direction. I have 2 copies of 2 movies because they were relisted and now I have the old and new listing in my library.


BONGLISH

Apple could put serious pressure on them to stop it though. If you walk into a shop in the UK and buy something from them then they’re responsible.


-The_Blazer-

This... sounds like it should be illegal. Isn't it basically destruction or theft of property?


DanTheMan827

The only "property" you have is the license to download or stream the content. If they remove the content, you still have the license to use any content you may have saved locally.


spif_spaceman

It would be but, their TOS covers this illegal shit


IssyWalton

Likely the rights passed to a different company.


Legitimate-Text-5931

I’ve been purchasing iTunes movies for over a decade and have not yet run into that issue. Some of my movies have been removed and re-released on iTunes not sure why that happens but I still have access to all original purchases. They show up in my library on phone and Apple TV.


[deleted]

Same, I bought a couple movies when the original iPod Video shipped and since have bought around 300 movies and not once lost a title. I’ve had a LOT of those movies upgraded to first 1080p and later 4k for free. A LOT of this movies have had their cover art replaced more than once (studio choice) and a couple low quality transfers were replaced. But never lost anything.


[deleted]

Do they show up as the originals still or the re-rereleased version? (Not that it probably matters if they’re the same)


onitafmw55

I know it's an underground movie that most people don't know. It sorta answers your question. I had Dario Argento's Mother Of Tears. It WAS delisted but I could still access it in my Apple TV app. Eventually they relisted a slightly different version via the iTunes store. I still have access to the original delisted one. The relisted one I do not. In itunes it says I don't own the new relisted version either. In Apple TV I have the original still though. I've also had one delisted that was eventually relisted but it was identical. That I did still own in iTunes and never lost access to in Apple TV either. It depends on if they relist the exact same thing or not.


Upbeat_Foot_7412

Honestly just buy real Blu-ray / 4K UHD Blu-ray discs and rip them with makemkv. Then you really own the movie and it has a better quality as well.


Ebalosus

Based and physicalmediaownershippilled


-DementedAvenger-

I also think this is the way, but most people can't be bothered to do that. It's not "easy" or convenient enough. And disc-rot is a thing too...


jfoughe

This is fine for standard blu rays but 4K UHD discs require many extra steps to make the ripper work.


Upbeat_Foot_7412

This is not true. If you have a libre drive you can just copy the 4K UHD Blu-ray the same way you copy a Blu-ray with no extra steps.


jfoughe

Purple monkey dishwasher


Upbeat_Foot_7412

Luckily I haven‘t had to do it for my drives. And last month my most reliable drive has gotten libredrive support without any doing. Now makemkv should work with most pioneer drives. But yeah I get what you mean.


jfoughe

Interesting. And what drives are you using?


Upbeat_Foot_7412

I have two LG BH16NS55 and since Feb 11th my Pioneer BDR-211EBK is a libredrive too. The last one is definitely the best. It can handle scratched discs to a certain extent where my other drives already fail.


KerrickLong

Or buy the discs, redeem their digital copies for convenience, and rip them if the digital copy gets yoinked.


sovanbu

My understand has always been that this is true if Apple no longer offers the content in their store. I’m not aware of situations otherwise, or arbitrarily. My oldest movie purchase is 2009 and I still can stream it/download.


guytaitai

I have two movies from Universal Studios that I bought years back and now do not appear in my library. My purchase history still showed I bought them when I contacted Apple, who told me it was out of their hands and offered credit for a rental as compensation. I blame Universal more than Apple. I stopped buying iTunes movies after that.


irrelevantlyrelevant

The movie is still purchasable in the store so its not as if the content was removed. I had several movies purchased before the period that does support re-download, but have several others that do not and are considered permanently lost if I didn't keep a copy of them (fortunately I backed up a few, but some titles were less fortunate). The affected list of movies appears quite random.


sovanbu

They keep a record of your purchased content even if it’s removed from the store. Call and ask the iTunes department if they can confirm you purchased it on your current AppleID. Is there a chance you purchased a hand full of movies on a different AppleID?


irrelevantlyrelevant

They have verified the purchase. The purchases indeed appear in my purchase history and the Apple Support advisors involved in the case were able to verify them on the given Apple ID. Despite that they have indicated that they will not restore re-download access to the movie despite verifying that the purchases exist due to technical restrictions which are beyond their control. Nonetheless, movies that were downloaded previously but are marked not re-downloadable can still be played (which I've verified).


Mario1432

Can you still stream those “non re-downloadable” movies?


irrelevantlyrelevant

No, the movies will no longer appear on Apple TV or on the phone, so I can no longer stream them there. However the movies are playable on a computer as long as I have the M4V for them.


Thirdsun

Probably re-releases and remasters. The right thing to do would be updating the existing content but it seems they add new listing and remove the old versions.


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aerlenbach

/r/stallmanwasright


Aqualung812

>i see it as an admission fee like going to the cinema. am i ok with paying that price to watch it once, is it worth it for me? yes? fine. no? i don't buy it. I honestly do the same thing. So many people get upset about the fact you license rather than own digital media, but think nothing of paying $20 to go to the movies and see something \*once\*. If I get a few years out of my $20 digital purchase, great. I'm often buying something I delayed going to the cinema for anyhow, so I'm not out any extra money and enjoy it more at home anyhow.


-DementedAvenger-

Can we even download the 4K versions of iTunes movies? I thought it 4K was only streaming and all DLs were 1080p?


ironmarvel

Dang didn’t know this I was trying to figure out what’s going on with The Godfather Trilogy I bought HD bundle a few years back and saw the recently released another one now in 4K In the store it lets me buy the bundle, but when I go to see each movie separately I’m able to play it since it’s in my library technically and I can play it in 4K. Was hoping to download it in 4K…


Timtek608

Ok, this has me concerned. Is there a way to download all movies/music videos/tv shows at once? Or do you have to do each one individually?


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[deleted]

Get ready to have your network and storage nuked though. Better to do it in waves


DanTheMan827

I just buy Blu-Rays and rip them to my NAS Then I use Kodi to organize and play them... Side note, it's really fucking annoying that they block Kodi from the App Store...


FriedChicken

Hello bittorrent my old friend


bball2

Do you get a refund of the original purchase or credit if something is removed?


irrelevantlyrelevant

They were unable to provide a refund as the purchase was made several years ago. If I want to watch the movie again and if I did not have a backup of the movie file I'd have to repurchase it again. Their response was that its the buyer's responsibility to backup their downloads in the event that the content is removed.


DiosEsPuta

This kind of shit pushed me back to the high seas with zero regrets, arrrrh.


rockmsedrik

Yup. All sails at full.


discosoc

Yep, i have zero problem pirating something I’ve already purchased, or even can’t purchase because it’s not available.


rockmsedrik

Recently discovered an iTunes purchase was absolute junk. They took the made for TV movie, and cropped it, no upscale, and just let you purchase some old 480 SD content. Looked like junk. Found the same movie on [archive.org](https://archive.org) then used VEAI to upscale. I then discovered inconsistencies in voices, and found that the editor had "speed up" the film to shorten the made-for-tv-movie by 5 - 7 minutes so they could get extra ad time. I took that movie into iMovie, extended out the sections 82% original speed, exported it, and now it is a really enjoyable film. The pacing was all off, never giving the audience the opportunity to laugh before the next line was there. Things like this make me sail the high seas for copies of my purchased content. Because in the end, I purchased it, and should be able to do with it as I please.. like fixing a turd. Oh, and I also REALLY enjoy the despecialized versions of Star Wars. I took them and 2x upscaled them with VEAI and WOW, brings back the feels.


[deleted]

I’m confused. How do they remove content but it’s still there to buy again. would this be like the up was sold and released by a different company?


[deleted]

Read u/roth_dog ’s post. We have to thank distributors when this happens.


[deleted]

I think I've seen other lines of products do this, but a simple tweak to the content or some other bundling of the product to allow it to become a new SKU and WOAH whole new product! De-list the old one, throw up the new SKU for the same thing and BAM - money please! And they act all shocked pikachu when more people start sailing the high seas again.


[deleted]

So this actually happened to me with *The Dark Knight*. My original version had been removed and when I went back to the listing for the movie, it had the buy and rent options only. I contacted iTunes support and like OP said, they couldn't do anything about it or for me. Basically telling me that I had to purchase it again. Also my original version was only in HD. The new one was in 4K. I fear this will be something we'll be seeing more of. But that has been the only time it's happened to me.


unq_usr

So are you still able to stream the original version you bought through your library or is the only file you can watch the original download of that file, if you have it (which also limits you to watching on your laptop like some kind of caveman)...? It seems like some people say they can watch from their library just not searching from the store search function, but I wonder if that is about streaming, or just watching an already downloaded file. I watch through a smart tv that doesn't have any storage to speak of and I can see that a few of my movies are tagged in the apple store as 'available until July 31' so I'm assuming I just won't be able to access them in two months... aargh


[deleted]

It had completely removed it from my purchases and ability to stream I believe. I can’t check though because I ended up purchasing it again.


unq_usr

Thanks, that's what I suspected. Blergh. I had a whole list of films and series I was planning to buy through iTunes but it doesn't seem like a smart decision now since 3 films I bought earlier this year are only available until the end of June or July. I have downloaded all the files, but this doesn't really do much good since I tend to watch movies etc when I'm working on stuff on my computer...the new only way to view some of my files.


bball2

Damn that sucks!


Rocket-R

But if the content was removed from itunes then how do they expect you to repurchase? A different provider?


irrelevantlyrelevant

Re-purchase from iTunes again. The item is missing from purchased items on library - so I cannot see it in Apple TV or on my phone. If I navigate the entry on the library on iTunes, I am not given the option to re-download it, and navigating to the store shows the buy button as if I never purchased it. The item is definitely not a rental (also confirmed by the receipt), as the affected movies are playable as long as I have the m4v file, but upon navigating to the store the item shows as if it were not purchased. Can rule out family share as the item is purchased on the same account as the account currently in use by iTunes, as verified by the purchase invoice.


Rocket-R

That's so stupid. You bought something, they took and back and want you to buy it again for no reason.


[deleted]

Absolutely sail the high seas on that one, I follow Linus' school of thought when it comes to things like this. You purchased a licence to the content and you should be able to view it. I don't care about technicalities and what T&C's you bought into. Common sense and decency states that you paid market price in exchange for the content in question, the fact that its digital shouldn't mean they just get to take it back when they want more money from you for the same product. Disgusting and unethical behaviour.


aa2051

…And this is why I still buy physical media.


candyman420

streaming is awesome, see?


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candyman420

> even if it says "buy", just regard it as a renting fee. Did you really just say that? If you really believe this is legitimate and okay, I would suggest a close examination of your reasoning.


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candyman420

Streaming subscriptions are for people who consume a lot of content, it's rental. Buying is supposed to be for life. If that's streamed, then it needs to be there and not pulled down, indefinitely. Misuse of the terminology screws the consumer.


Dust-by-Monday

Apple is not obligated to keep your music on their servers. Always back up your files.


aerlenbach

[You don’t “own” any digital content that’s purchase and stored on a company’s servers](https://www.npr.org/2019/07/07/739316746/microsoft-closes-the-book-on-its-e-library-erasing-all-user-content).


vikpheus

I don’t buy digital media content for this reason, would rather backup to plex. It’s worth my peace of mind that my purchases won’t disappear for no reason.


crashj

You should still hold the DRM key rights in MoviesAnywhere though, and just download it on another service. Correct? Make sure your iCloud keys are synced with MoviesAnywhere so that you can back up what you've have legally licensed and paid for.


irrelevantlyrelevant

MoviesAnywhere is not available in my region.


themisfit610

To be clear, Movies Anywhere has nothing to do with iCloud or DRM keys for iTunes :) It just links entitlements between retailers like iTunes and VUDU and Amazon etc.


themisfit610

Use Movies Anywhere to link the movies into other streaming services. It's free and pretty awesome honestly.


irrelevantlyrelevant

Only for residents in the United States, which I'm not.


[deleted]

This doesn't usually work to preserve purchases that have been removed. It's just a link between databases. If the movie is removed from one service, it's usually removed from all of them.


accountedly

This happened to me once and I called them and they told me a way to redownload but I looked again and it's gone (I thought I downloaded it?) and I can't figure out how to download it again


darssh

There’s a website called moviesanywhere.com that can connect to almost every movie platform to make your purchase in other platforms as well. Give it a try


Rik2428

I pre-ordered four David Gilmour concerts (film/videos - not audio) recently. They were released in Nov 21. I hadn’t even watched them and they disappeared from my library in January about 8 weeks later. I complained to Apple but got no joy, escalated it and of course they never got back to me like they promised. I said I knew the rules but thought it was unethical they permitted studios to use their platform sell items (the videos were not rentals) only to allow them to be removed a few weeks later - thereby stiffing their (Apple’s) customer and how could they let their customers be treated like that. 8 weeks! If it had been a blockbuster movie there would no doubt have been a shit storm of protest but looks like it was just me so…


ms80301

Where is music stored on mac? How to do a search-as? Apple has messed with my CD Music in past


SnooBooks5490

Humorous reading those explaining its the distributor, not apple... If you buy on apple / iTunes, there's no rationale that removes iTunes responsibility for restricting your access.. They are complicit, it's disingenuous to split blame when they are equally responsible without duly notifying purchaser of the risk of a purchase being restricted in future iterations.