Audio Video News

Do you rent movies on DVD or Blu-ray? Fox hates you. In an attempt to shift the current balance between rental and sale, the studio is beginning to strip bonus materials out of rental discs, reports CinemaBlend.com.

So if you wander into Blockbuster look to rent Slumdog Millionaire, you'll get the movie, but your rental disc will exclude some or all of the extras contained in the for-sale version. Fox hopes this will encourage consumers to buy (rather than rent) more titles.

The Blu-ray policy is slightly less draconian than the DVD policy, if Slumdog is any indicator. While the DVD rental version will have only the movie and trailers, the Blu-ray rental version will contain most of the extras--except for the Digital Copy version which can be bumped to a portable media player. You can get the Digital Copy only by buying the DVD or Blu-ray disc.

Fox says it is "trying to feed different consumer consumption models and behaviors," offering a "theatrical experience" (!) to renters and a "premium product" to buyers. CinemaBlend predicts rental outlets will respond by purchasing the premium versions and renting them out, and notes: "Thanks to the First Sale Doctrine, there's absolutely nothing prohibiting retailers from doing so."