Amazon deleted a video I purchased

[Sydney's Mom]

.First, I need to explain that isn't literally correct. Amazon says it is merely a platform, and the content provider is responsible for removing my video. It was the season finale in a tv show I bought-I told them if they couldn't replace it, I wanted the entire season refunded.

This gets me thinking about ebooks. I bet they call the publishers content providers, and would argue they have no responsibility if the publisher decided to remove a book. This makes me appreciate Mobileread. Long ago, I learned to download all books immediately upon purchase.

I don't do this with streaming content, and didn't think I needed to. But I was binge watching the series while I was knitting. Imagine my surprise when the finale said "Not available." I paid for the entire season! I have 2 more seasons to go in that series, but I don't really feel like binge watching when I have that huge hole.

Guess cutting the cord isn't really possible. I could've just recorded that series and I would have it as long as my ITB hard drive and my DVR survived.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

.First, I need to explain that isn't literally correct. Amazon says it is merely a platform, and the content provider is responsible for removing my video. It was the season finale in a tv show I bought-I told them if they couldn't replace it, I wanted the entire season refunded.

This gets me thinking about ebooks. I bet they call the publishers content providers, and would argue they have no responsibility if the publisher decided to remove a book. This makes me appreciate Mobileread. Long ago, I learned to download all books immediately upon purchase.

I don't do this with streaming content, and didn't think I needed to. But I was binge watching the series while I was knitting. Imagine my surprise when the finale said "Not available." I paid for the entire season! I have 2 more seasons to go in that series, but I don't really feel like binge watching when I have that huge hole.

Guess cutting the cord isn't really possible. I could've just recorded that series and I would have it as long as my ITB hard drive and my DVR survived.

Sorry this happened to you. It seems really crazy that only one episode was missing. Maybe you can find it elsewhere--YouTube?

I'm leery of streaming; this kind of thing is why I still have cable and record shows (or buy DVDs of shows and movies). I'm actually now in the process of dubbing shows from the DVR hard drive to disks, both to free up space and to make sure I don't lose everything if the DVR fails.

[AnemicOak]

Was the episode pulled from other services as well? Is it possible it was pulled due to a problem with the encoding or something and will be replaced when they upload a new copy to their providers servers?

It's certainly a curious thing and I've heard of it happening at various providers a time or two, but then being replaced after the problems/glitches were fixed.


It is a good reminder that content of this type (digital books, movies/TV, music) can go away (usually because a provider closes) and that providers have more control over things than they do with physical media. TV/Movies probably have the most stringent content licenses for digital content and its use, giving the studios more control than book publishers or music labels with what happens. Did you happen to contact the studio/provider to see what's up? I wouldn't surprised if the response you got from Amazon support is just a generic response for when they don't have an answer about a specific program.

[rkomar]

Perhaps a license for a piece of music in the episode expired, and it got pulled for that. Content licensing is a real can of worms.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

.First, I need to explain that isn't literally correct. Amazon says it is merely a platform, and the content provider is responsible for removing my video. It was the season finale in a tv show I bought-I told them if they couldn't replace it, I wanted the entire season refunded.

This gets me thinking about ebooks. I bet they call the publishers content providers, and would argue they have no responsibility if the publisher decided to remove a book. This makes me appreciate Mobileread. Long ago, I learned to download all books immediately upon purchase.

I don't do this with streaming content, and didn't think I needed to. But I was binge watching the series while I was knitting. Imagine my surprise when the finale said "Not available." I paid for the entire season! I have 2 more seasons to go in that series, but I don't really feel like binge watching when I have that huge hole.

Guess cutting the cord isn't really possible. I could've just recorded that series and I would have it as long as my ITB hard drive and my DVR survived.

What was the show and season?

[crane3]

I had something similar happen to me; the difference was that I did not have to pay for the series in Prime video. The bad thing that happened was that the next episode would have been a possible conclusion of an "arc".

The series was a Korean version of CSI in the 19th century & mysteries were partially mixed with "magic" & how the ancients(?) dealt with forensic cause of death & its solution; quite interesting in how the "lab people" came up with the answer without the stuff available in modern times.

After some extensive searching, I found that the popular series was terminated prior to the 4th season & then the DVDs became unavailable for sale on the website of the series which also disappeared.

Since the series was "free" except for being just available on Amazon Prime, I did not complain

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by John F

What was the show and season?

Supernatural, season 10, episode 23.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by crane3

I had something similar happen to me; the difference was that I did not have to pay for the series in Prime video. The bad thing that happened was that the next episode would have been a possible conclusion of an "arc".

The series was a Korean version of CSI in the 19th century & mysteries were partially mixed with "magic" & how the ancients(?) dealt with forensic cause of death & its solution; quite interesting in how the "lab people" came up with the answer without the stuff available in modern times.

After some extensive searching, I found that the popular series was terminated prior to the 4th season & then the DVDs became unavailable for sale on the website of the series which also disappeared.

Since the series was "free" except for being just available on Amazon Prime, I did not complain

Wow, that is awful! Well, I paid $35 for the season (thank you Amazon for making it so easy to find this), so I think pulling it is horrible.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

Supernatural, season 10, episode 23.

Hmm, it's still on Vudu, iTunes, Google Play and FandangoNow which would point to the possibility that there was some kind of problem with the file at Amazon. Perhaps it's been pulled temporarily while CW fixes it (like how eBooks are sometimes temporarily pulled while errors are fixed)? Looks like it's been gone at Amazon for at least a month.

BTW, if you have Netflix all of the Supernatural episodes are available there. Doesn't solve the ultimate issue, but might get it so you're able to watch it.


Here's CW's support page if it's of any help (if you wanted to pursue things)...
https://support.cwtv.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

[darryl]

The below quote is from:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...deId=201422770

i. Availability of Purchased Digital Content. Purchased Digital Content will generally continue to be available to you for download or streaming from the Service, as applicable, but may become unavailable due to potential content provider licensing restrictions or for other reasons, and Amazon will not be liable to you if Purchased Digital Content becomes unavailable for further download or streaming. You may download and store your own copy of Purchased Digital Content on a Compatible Device authorized for such download so that you can view that Purchased Digital Content if it becomes unavailable for further download or streaming from the Service.

j. Downloading and Risk of Loss. If you plan to download Digital Content that you purchase or rent, we encourage you to do so promptly after your purchase or rental. If you are unable to complete a download after having reviewed our online help resources, please contact Amazon customer service. Once you purchase or rent Digital Content and we make the Digital Content available to you, you are responsible for completing the download, if you choose to download, and for all risk of loss of the Digital Content.

My comment is that given the prices paid and the download restrictions this is not in my view acceptable. And it should be given far more prominence than it is. Having said that, I suspect other services of this type would be the same.

It is of course always wise to secure your own copy of any digital content you buy rather than rely on cloud storage. But it is one thing to lose your content because a service ceases to operate, and quite another to lose it at the whim of some content provider pursuant to licensing terms you are not a party to.

I'll be interested to see how Amazon responds.

[Tarana]

Amazon (and Audible) have both been good about ebooks and audiobooks. Even though the provider is no longer selling the book or audiobook (geo-restrictions, the devil, whatever), they continue to be available to me. However, there is no guarantee it will stay that way. I definitely don't want to be in the position where I have 10 days to download everything, so I do it as I buy.

[theducks]

This whole can o (vanishing) worms is terrible. Probably why I still insist on buying hard media (CD, DVD, Bluray).
Those LP's and 45's I bought in High School, Open Reel Tapes bought when I wis in the Navy, Laser discs, CD, DVD's all still work (OK, I did lose a Laser to 'laser rot').
My paperbacks still are there in plastic totes in the store room.

The point is, it will be an 'Act of God', not the whim of business, that renders them unusable.

[Mort1997]

Originally Posted by crane3

I had something similar happen to me; the difference was that I did not have to pay for the series in Prime video. The bad thing that happened was that the next episode would have been a possible conclusion of an "arc".

The series was a Korean version of CSI in the 19th century & mysteries were partially mixed with "magic" & how the ancients(?) dealt with forensic cause of death & its solution; quite interesting in how the "lab people" came up with the answer without the stuff available in modern times.

After some extensive searching, I found that the popular series was terminated prior to the 4th season & then the DVDs became unavailable for sale on the website of the series which also disappeared.

Since the series was "free" except for being just available on Amazon Prime, I did not complain

That sounds quite interesting! - what was it called?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by darryl

It is of course always wise to secure your own copy of any digital content you buy rather than rely on cloud storage. But it is one thing to lose your content because a service ceases to operate, and quite another to lose it at the whim of some content provider pursuant to licensing terms you are not a party to.

But you're not buying streamed content - you're just buying access to a service. I agree that it's sensible to keep a local copy of things like eBooks, but I strongly disagree that it's OK to make a copy of material from a streaming service; if you want a permanent copy for yourself, buy the DVD.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But you're not buying streamed content - you're just buying access to a service. I agree that it's sensible to keep a local copy of things like eBooks, but I strongly disagree that it's OK to make a copy of material from a streaming service; if you want a permanent copy for yourself, buy the DVD.

Normally that would be quite fair enough, Harry. I'm not advocating people make unauthorised copies from a streaming service. The incident being talked about in this thread is where the content has been purchased from Amazon, in this case a complete season of Supernatural. In these circumstances Amazon itself contemplates such download. The relevant part of their terms, as extracted above, is:

You may download and store your own copy of Purchased Digital Content on a Compatible Device authorized for such download so that you can view that Purchased Digital Content if it becomes unavailable for further download or streaming from the Service.

And further:

Downloading and Risk of Loss. If you plan to download Digital Content that you purchase or rent, we encourage you to do so promptly after your purchase or rental. If you are unable to complete a download after having reviewed our online help resources, please contact Amazon customer service. Once you purchase or rent Digital Content and we make the Digital Content available to you, you are responsible for completing the download, if you choose to download, and for all risk of loss of the Digital Content.