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A comment on Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B. Parent comment

Re:Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B by rhino369 on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @12:17PM (#27292414)
It's because of the first sale doctrine. Redbox and family video can buy DVDs and Blu-Rays (at a maximum) at the same price as consumer DVD/Blu-Ray--and rent them out without permission from the copyright holder. That means video rental stores can undercut the VOD prices.

Consumers are willing to pay more for VOD because its easier. Having to return the disc is a pain in the ass.

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Re:Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B by jjkaczor on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @02:29PM (#27294279)
... There used to be this little startup company and service, where you could queue movie/TV shows, then you would receive the discs in the mail, with a paid envelope to return them as well...

AFAIK - only in the US though, there was much talk at launch of how they got special deals with the US postal service.

Whatever happened to those guys...? (https://dvd.netflix.com/)

Apparently they still do it - I thought it was phased-out for streaming years ago.

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Re:Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B by thayne on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @12:19PM (#27292429)
It seems like there should be a similar mechanism for VOD. Although, VidAngel tried to do that and was sued almost to death by big media.
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Re:Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B by rhino369 on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @02:50PM (#27294531)
It's not possible to lend digital media out without making a copy(remotely streaming it still copying), which isn't protected by the first sale doctrine. Redbox isn't making a copy. That's the big difference.
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Re:Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B by jbay808 on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @03:47PM (#27295185)
Is it possible to play a DVD without making a copy in the DVD player's RAM?

What if I extend an HDMI cable from my DVD player to your TV?

My library manages to lend ebooks; they even have wait lists for them.

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Re:Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B by d110af5ccf on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @07:20PM (#27297357)
> My library manages to lend ebooks; they even have wait lists for them.

Those are made available in that format by the publisher. No equivalent for movies is available (as far as I am aware).

Also my understanding is that it was never entirely clear if lending ebooks like that in the US was legal or not. The publishers and lenders both carefully avoided the issue going to court IIUC. (Prior to the Internet Archive's actions, that is.)

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Re:Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5B by thayne on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @04:33PM (#27295740)
Assuming that is true that seems like yet another place where the law isn't well adapted to a digital world.
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