No Ownership: Shift from Physical to Digital Media Ownership

This oft-repeated quote becomes more and more true as time goes on: “You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy.”

The globalist World Economic Forum shared the quote in 2016 as part of a clip predicting what the world will look like in 2030.

When it comes to at-home entertainment, it appears the 8-year-old prediction may soon become reality.

On April 18, a Target spokesperson revealed to IGN that the store would soon be phasing out the sale of physical media, including discs for films and television shows.

For now, the sale of game discs at Target will remain unaffected.

This follows a trend other retailers have already begun. Last year, Best Buy confirmed to Variety it would be phasing out the sale of DVD and Blu-Ray discs in early 2024.

Just before that, Netflix — which made its bones shipping DVDs by mail — ended the physical media side of its own business on Sept. 29, per Variety.

This trend is troubling for consumers who want to maintain control over the content they purchase.

While a purchased physical disc can never be taken away by the original seller, recent years have shown that digital copies of movies and games — even after purchase — can be legally removed from customers’ devices.

As reported by the New York Times’s Wirecutter, consumers actually don’t “own” the digital files they purchase on online media streaming services like Amazon Prime, Vudu and Spotify.

“What you’re purchasing in most cases is a license to watch that video or listen to that song. Effectively that license is good for as long as it really matters,” Wirecutter reported.

“…[I]f Disney, for example, decides it doesn’t want to allow Vudu to sell its movies anymore, the company can have Vudu turn off Disney movies. Unlikely as that may be, theoretically the service could block access to movies you’ve already purchased…”

This is true for digitally purchased video games as well.

As reported by Forbes, games can be de-listed and online store-fronts can be shut down, preventing consumers from accessing previously purchased content.

Online digital media purchasers have already had to face this reality.

In December of 2023, Sony announced that due to certain licensing agreements, PlayStation users would no longer have access to Discovery content they had previously purchased as of Dec. 31, per The Verge.

As time goes on, it’s more likely than not that more contractual agreements will end and, as a result, more examples such as this will continue to pop up.

So, before your next “purchase” of a digital movie, show or game, bear in mind that you won’t actually “own” that media.

It could one day be taken away from you.