3 ms·

Didn’t they still need to workout deals or licenses with the entertainment industry to rent out the DVDs? Didn’t Blockbuster have to do that to provide VHS and

by hk1337 5y ago

Didn’t they still need to workout deals or licenses with the entertainment industry to rent out the DVDs? Didn’t Blockbuster have to do that to provide VHS and DVDs in the store? I still think it was a pivot but not for that reason. Evolving can still be pivoting. Netflix shifted their business from providing physical media to streaming media.

astura 5y ago
No, definitely not, in the US anyone can rent out any physical media legally without any permission from the anyone due to the first sale doctrine. Same as me freely selling or loaning my DVDs and books without asking anyone first. Before Blockbuster/Hollywood Video came to my town there were dozens of the video rental stores, all of which were mom-and-pop operations. Nintendo tried to stop video game rentals during the NES era but failed - there was legislation banning video game rentals that was not passed and then they sued blockbuster for making photocopies of their manuals. I think I remember reading that rental stores having to send multiple employees into multiple stores to purchase Nintendo games because Nintendo had an agreement with retailers not to sell multiple copies of the same game to a single person to discourage rental and reseller purchases.
- bluGill 5y ago
  While legally you are correct, you want to make deals anyway, if you do you can get plenty of DVDs in on release day (they might sit in your backroom for a few days to ensure it was shipped fast enough). There are other things you can get in a deal if you make one.
  - mkr-hn 5y ago
    See also: compulsory licensing for music. You don't need the permission of the copyright holder, but licensing deals are usually cheaper than the rate set by law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_license#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_license#United_Stat...
- Beldin 5y ago
  Not quite accurate. If you become a distributor of content, then you fall under the rules for distributors. That's (part of) why videos typically had that "not for rent" / "only for home viewing" stuff. There's a difference between you lending or renting out a dvd once, versus this being a business model. How this works out exactly in a US legal context, you ask? Well: always follow legal advice from strangers on the Internet. Also IANAL.

by hk1337 5y ago

astura 5y ago

No, definitely not, in the US anyone can rent out any physical media legally without any permission from the anyone due to the first sale doctrine. Same as me freely selling or loaning my DVDs and books without asking anyone first. Before Blockbuster/Hollywood Video came to my town there were dozens of the video rental stores, all of which were mom-and-pop operations. Nintendo tried to stop video game rentals during the NES era but failed - there was legislation banning video game rentals that was not passed and then they sued blockbuster for making photocopies of their manuals. I think I remember reading that rental stores having to send multiple employees into multiple stores to purchase Nintendo games because Nintendo had an agreement with retailers not to sell multiple copies of the same game to a single person to discourage rental and reseller purchases.

bluGill 5y ago
While legally you are correct, you want to make deals anyway, if you do you can get plenty of DVDs in on release day (they might sit in your backroom for a few days to ensure it was shipped fast enough). There are other things you can get in a deal if you make one.
- mkr-hn 5y ago
  See also: compulsory licensing for music. You don't need the permission of the copyright holder, but licensing deals are usually cheaper than the rate set by law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_license#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_license#United_Stat...
Beldin 5y ago
Not quite accurate. If you become a distributor of content, then you fall under the rules for distributors. That's (part of) why videos typically had that "not for rent" / "only for home viewing" stuff. There's a difference between you lending or renting out a dvd once, versus this being a business model. How this works out exactly in a US legal context, you ask? Well: always follow legal advice from strangers on the Internet. Also IANAL.