Some Disney and Pixar movies have been pulled from Apple iTunes, Amazon Instant Video stores
Here’s a bit of unfortunate news for users of Apple and Amazon movie services: some Disney and Pixar movies have been pulled from iTunes and Instant Video, making those titles unavailable for purchase, rent, or instant streaming from those stores.
According to Amazon’s The Lion King page, the unavailability is due to their “licensing agreements,” and Disney came back with a quote to AppAdvice to confirm those suspicions:
We heard back from Disney about that issue. According to a spokesperson, “The Lion King” is just one of the movie titles currently unavailable for streaming. By contrast, “Remember the Titans” will become available tomorrow, Oct. 25.
Licensing agreements are changed all the time, and it’s very likely that Amazon and Disney will get The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Mater’s Tall Tales back on Instant Video as soon as possible. I’m sure that will be the same case with Disney and Apple, too, though it is a bit concerning that the two companies – which have a fantastic relationship due to Steve Jobs and his Pixar hits – were unable to come to an agreement before the movies were pulled.
In fact, it’s worrying that both companies were unable to come to an agreement with Disney. Apple and Amazon are obviously trying to get into the media industry with as much force as possible with their respective tablet lines (and if the rumors about televisions are true), but this just shows that it’s still going to be a long road ahead of them as the movie industry and tech companies fight to come to a compromise.
[9to5Mac via MacRumors | AppAdvice]
