Universal Lovefilm dispute short changes DVD renters

Update: Lovefilm, OutNow and Cinema Paradiso still haven't resolved their issues with Universal Pictures. See the sidebar for the latest DVDs which are unavailable to rent from the sites.

USERS of some online DVD rental sites are finding that films from the distributor Universal Pictures are being less than universally distributed as a spat regarding trading terms continues.

Lovefilm, OutNow and Cinema Paradiso DVD rental customers are currently unable to rent new Universal Pictures releases such as Public Enemies, Bruno and, erm, Coleen Nolan's Let's Get Physical.

Users have been picking up on the problem for the past few weeks [months now - ed] but with no resolution to the problem in sight and no explanation forthcoming from the companies involved frustration has been growing.

If the dispute is resolved in Universal Pictures' favour - presumably resulting in much higher revenues for the studio - it could mean that DVD renters see the price of their rental deals rise dramatically.

In the mean time, many are left contemplating jumping ship to the only DVD rental sites affected by the problems: Blockbuster.

No comment

Choosedvdrental's enquiries into the problem have been drawing a blank. Universal UK would only tell us that:

"...due to ongoing negotiations regarding trading terms, Lovefilm does not currently offer Universal DVD product for online rental."

Lovefilm declined to comment and, in response to users asking about the availability of Universal titles on its Twitter feed would only say that they are "not currently able to rent these titles."

Clearly, they aren't allowed to buy stock from third party suppliers either.

Not without precedent

This isn't the first time that big distributors have held rental services to ransom: in America an ongoing dispute between DVD rental company Redbox and Universal Pictures over the latter's share of DVD rental profits has left customers hanging for months.

Online DVD rental companies accounted for 47% of UK rental transactions last year in the UK.

Studios' increasing concern over lost revenues, as DVD sales continue to fall, has also led to some high-profile conflicts between DVD rental outlets and 20th Century Fox.

Yesterday, US cable company Comcast which operates some of the world's largest video-on-demand services bought a controlling stake in NBC which owns Universal Pictures. Comcast is expected to take over the day to day running of Universal Pictures in the next few years.

In the US, Comcast has been expanding its on-demand content library for a number of years and its hard not to see their acquisition of Universal's huge film library as part of a larger plan.

The company has boosted the number of films released on Video-on-Demand on the same day as DVD, for example, so online DVD rental companies in the UK could find they have more scope for expanding online downloads in the future.

However, since Comcast will have to make huge efforts to repair Universal Pictures' ever-decreasing bottom line an increase in DVD prices to rental outlets wouldn't be without precedent.

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