Sony Once Again Proves You Don’t Own Digital Media

By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 15 seconds ago

On September 1, 2026, Sony will be removing 551 digitally purchased movies and television shows from its platform, which means consumers who paid for the products will no longer have access to them. While this move will only affect European accounts, it continues an ominous precedent that raises questions about ownership in the digital landscape.

Sony claims expiring licensing agreements as the reason the properties are being removed. Accounts in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe will lose access to popular movies like Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Hot Fuzz, and hundreds of others. This is due to an expiring license agreement between Canal Studios and Sony, but this is not the first time that Sony has removed Canal Studios content from its platform. In 2022, Sony removed over 300 titles distributed by that studio.

The Fine Print Always Wins

It’s always in the very fine print in the digital user agreement that digital platforms reserve the right to remove purchased content. This language in the agreement exists in the US digital user agreement, as many experienced with purchased content from Discovery TV or the show Final Space, which suddenly disappeared right after an announcement that some studios would only be releasing digital content. Just like in past instances of Sony pulling purchased content, they are not offering refunds or other compensation for the current removal of 551 titles.

Tying into the digital user agreement and Sony’s ability to remove content if a licensing agreement expires, the company has announced that starting on Jan 1, 2028, they will no longer be producing physical discs. The digital content will be always-online and, in some cases, require PS+ to access multiplayer and other features. Gamers will only be purchasing the right to play the content, not to actually own the game. These actions have resurrected concerns by many on social media that we no longer own what we are buying if a company can pull your access at any time.

True Ownership No Longer Exists

As if on cue, Rockstar Games recently announced that Grand Theft Auto VI will not have a physical disc, either. Players will be required to always be online and subject to the same wording in a digital user agreement about access to the game that we, the gamers, have purchased. The base game of GTA VI will be $80, and the upgrade, which gives you access to customization options, will have a $100 price point.

If we don’t own what we buy and they can remove access at any time, then why is the price of games continuing to increase? Why is our access to movies and shows being Balkanized into digital streaming libraries that only give us access when they want to, and can remove access at any time? In an entertainment industry that is increasingly moving from physical to digital media, the companies have more control over what consumers are allowed to own than the consumers do, meaning we don’t actually buy what we buy, but rent it until the company pulls it for whatever excuse. With Final Space, Warner Bros wrote it off for tax purposes, actually making money from depriving consumers of content they purchased.

While the lesson from all this should be “buy physical copies,” with so many companies working around this by only releasing movies, TV shows, and video games digitally, that advice no longer works. Viewers and video game players need to be aware that the platforms that manage their media can remove it at any time, so we can fight for the ownership of the things we buy.