Universal appeal: dispute leaves DVD renters out in the cold

By Julia Kukiewicz Editor Friday, 9 July 2010 First published 4 December 2009

Universally Challenged Films currently not available: Kick Ass 30 Rock: Series 3 A Serious Man 9 Smokin' Aces 2 Funny People Public Enemies Bruno Michael McIntyre - Live 2009 Inglourious Basterds Featured DVD Rental Sites Read our reviews of: Blockbuster DVD Rental LoveFilm DVD Rental OutNow DVD Rental Other DVD Rental News See our other recent related DVD rental and Games rental stories: Launch of movies on PSP sparks Lovefilm rumours Sony has released a brand new movie download service earlier this week but what kind of effect will it have on online DVD rental? We take a look at the ins and outs of the service. After Sunset: The Sun Movie Club Switchover Under Fire After it became a victim of the recession earlier this year Helen Storey thought she'd heard the last of The Sun Movie Club, until ex-customers started getting in touch. MPs speak out over 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2' We take a look at the seemingly inevitable backlash over the launch of popular shoot-em-up, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, as it is openly criticised in the House of Commons.

Update: Lovefilm still haven't resolved their issue with Universal Pictures. See the sidebar for the latest DVDs which are unavailable to rent from the site.

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 and OutNow 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 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 DVD rental sites not affected by the problems such as 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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