I use Plex, which is a media server that allows me to watch movies and listen to music that I own (which is to say, I have the associated files stored on my computer) from anywhere. I use it almost exclusively for music, which are files I have ripped from CDs that I own or files that I’ve purchased digitally through Amazon, for example.
However, as I’m thinking about buying some movies, it seems like all the digital versions are streamable only.
Is there a way to buy a digital movie and have the file, or are all digital copies nowadays basically streaming through some service? Is the only (legal) way to get a digital file to buy the DVD/Blu-ray and rip the file myself?
Please note that I’m not asking for ways to obtain copies of movies I haven’t purchased.
…burning a copy of CD onto a CD-R, or transferring a copy onto your computer hard drive or your portable music player, won’t usually raise concerns so long as:
The copy is made from an authorized original CD that you legitimately own
The copy is just for your personal use. It’s not a personal use – in fact, it’s illegal – to give away the copy or lend it to others for copying.
I infer from that that if you sell the CD, you should delete your digital copy, otherwise the loophole is obvious.
It’s true that ripping DVDs or Blu-Rays yourself is a DMCA violation. CDs are fine due to their lack of copy protection.
There are some companies that make home media servers that allow downloading full digital movies. They have agreements with media companies to do this legally. They have their own form of copy protection to keep them happy.
Kaleidescape is one example. I have no experience with them whatsoever, and looks fairly expensive, but it is a way to get fully digital copies of movies for personal use. I’m fairly sure there are others out there.
Please, everyone, take the legal questions to another thread.
This thread is asking if there is a way for me to purchase a digital file of a movie rather than purchasing the “right” to stream one from an online service.
Yes and no? I say that because the issue is with terminology. You can purchase a digital copy of a movie or tv show and download it to the connected object of your choice such as a tablet, phone or PC, in which it can be viewed with compatible software/app. For example, you can download copies of purchased movies from amazon and watch them offline, so you aren’t “streaming”. But those copies are always DRM protected in my experience, so, no, you cannot move those files to your Plex server to then stream over your local network, rather than on the specific device or cast from said device to a smart TV or other such standalone screen.
As for software that would allow you to bypass this, then my understanding is board policy doesn’t allow topics or posts that are intended to bypass the law or other criminal action.
Thanks; I didn’t know you could watch Amazon-purchased movies offline, but yes, it still doesn’t “solve my problem” of wanting to have a movie library available on Plex.
I’m not looking to bypass it, so no worries there.
I was going to ask if you could just take the URL of the stream and save the file onto your computer. @ParallelLines says you can, but that the copies are “always DRM protected”.
One quick and dirty alternative would be to “rip” the stream in the sense of dumping it as a video file yourself, like recording a TV broadcast on videotape. OBS Studio should be able to do this.
ETA apologies if that does not satisfy your requirements. It will produce a (afaik) legal file that you paid for that can be viewed on any device, but not the official file which is the DRM file @ParallelLines is talking about. You will not get customer support from Amazon if your homemade file looks messed up, for example.
You can also watch Netflix material offline. I often download a bunch of Netflix content before a long plane ride or something. But this, also, doesn’t satisfy your goal.
I know that some DVDs and Blu-Ray discs have been sold with a bonus “digital copy” (or code that allows you to download a digital copy of the movie). I don’t know whether or not this would be the kind of thing that would work for what the OP wants.
A bit of googling turned up this suggesting that “If you purchased a Blu-ray disc or DVD that did not offer a digital code, you can still get a digital copy of your movie with “Disc to Digital” from Vudu” (for a price).
Some of the very, very early versions of the digital copy (which were actually encoded on the DVDs themselves) were not so protected, but the modern services are functionally the same as Downloads from iTunes/Amazon/etc. For that matter, most of those services are set up to share across services, which is . . . neat, but still don’t allow the OP the options they want.
For some context back when the comic was new in 2011 or so, you were shit out of luck if you wanted to watch GOT legally in any way other than with an HBO subscription for at least 6 months after the season ended. At 6 months or so, it was released for purchase on iTunes, then it was like another 4 months before it was released on DVD/Bluray, and then whatever other services.
Yeah, honestly I think the competitive streaming market means it’s pretty easy and generous what you can do now. You can subscribe to one streaming service for a couple months, watch a bunch of their shows, cancel and subscribe to another one. None of them require a commitment to a long period. In practice I’m not penny pinching so I have 2 or 3 active, but if you want to you can steadily stream through the entire English creative output of the world for about $15 a month.
