#started putting out ‘streaming exclusives’ that are intentionally withheld from physical release

[badolmen]

I know you and several others on this post mean well but this was made just before Disney announced it would no longer be selling DVDs and Blu-Rays in Australia and Aotearoa. Most of the world outside of the US and UK have, traditionally, had to either wait ridiculously long times for companies to produce physical media or they have to have it imported, which is incredibly expensive. The fact that Disney is starting to pull its physical media from places like Australia should be the canary in the coal mine for the UK and US where it’s assumed that immediate access will always be available.

Of course you should buy physical media if and when it’s available to you. That’s the crux of my complaint in the original post, that the ‘if and when’ is getting smaller and smaller, not because people aren’t buying, but because companies have made the decision to not release physical media. And this isn’t even considering the fact that unsuccessful/unpopular media automatically has a smaller chance of having a physical release, which means it’s more likely to be lost to streaming service vaults when it’s no longer deemed profitable.

People against piracy fail to realize that no, I can’t just ‘buy it.’ They stopped making DVDs and Blu-Rays. They’re barely offering digital copies for download. I am not spending money I could use for food or bills to pay for a subscription service just so I can always have access to a beloved piece of media. Especially not when the service will remove media on a whim without concern for how the loss of access to that piece will make its artistic conservation nigh impossible.

For example, I recently learned that Disney+ had an original film called Crater. It’s scifi, family friendly, and seems cool - I would love to buy it as a holiday gift for my little brother! But: it’s exclusive to D+ and THEY REMOVED IT LITERALLY MONTHS AFTER ITS RELEASE.

The ONLY way I can directly access this film is through piracy. The ONLY available ‘copies’ of this film are hosted on piracy websites. Disney will NEVER release it in theaters, or as something to buy, and it may NEVER return to the streaming service. It will be LOST because we aren’t allowed to purchase it for personal viewing. If I can’t pay to own it, I won’t pay for the privilege of losing it when corporate decides to put it in a vault.

So yes, I’m going to pirate and support piracy.