Gizmo

Disney, which is introducing its "Digital File" release next week with Nightmare Before Christmas, has attached a premium fee to this release - in the tune of an extra $5. There is no way to buy this film without it, so essentially if you want the film, you will have to poney up the cash.

They have also released specs for Prince Caspain - a 2 Disc BD and 3 Disc BD (which includes a digital copy and slip cover) for an extra $5 fee.

http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Two_Na..._on_Dec_2/3298

Now, without getting into any non-sense, how do you feel about Disney (and potentially other studios possibly jumping on board if this succeeds) doing this? Will you pay $5 more for a digital copy, or will you skip a release altogether if they charge more then their typical rate (Nightmare Before Christmas) and force a digital copy on you?

Personally I'm not a huge fan of digital copies. While I would love to watch some of them (Harold and Kumar - most comedies) Warner has opted to make them not work with iPods. Fox has put them in several releases as has Lionsgate. Universal will be joining in starting with Sarah Marshall, and Sony, Weinstein and Paramount have yet to announce any plans (IIR)

Just to spin this a bit, Disney is putting out Sleeping Beauty in a 3 disc set which also includes an actual DVD copy of the film. Would you prefer that over the Digital copy?

Moopher

I don't think I should have to pay for a digital copy that I don't want. I haven't used one of mine yet, other than the 10,000 B.C. copy I got from someone kind on the forum.

Now I do like the idea of getting the DVD copy as well, I thought that was really cool, although I have no interest in owning Sleeping Beauty. But if I would poney up 5 bucks for an extra copy, no problem.

Gizmo

Sleeping Beauty is a great example of what I would rather see then digital copies. Though I have to wonder how many of these end up on eBay for those that don't want a DVD copy.

Arthur Dent

I don't want the digital copy, and I'll probably ignore releases containing one if a price premium is charged.

RichardW

I don't like paying extra for something I wouldn't use, so I'm not too happy about this.

fumanstan

I wouldn't pay extra for a digital copy.

Drexl

I don't want digital copies, and if given a choice I would not pay extra for them. I'm really glad they're deciding to offer both options on Caspian. I wouldn't pay extra for a DVD copy either if given a choice.

However, if they don't offer a choice, I can't pass on a release I otherwise want because of this. This is like Fox catalog titles, discs with lossy audio, Warner digibooks, even titles with a reasonable amount of DNR (but not going overboard with it). I'm not going to sit and wait for a re-release that could take several years, just because it isn't perfect and/or costs a few bucks more.

I'll just consider it to be a higher-priced release, and as such, I may wait for a sale depending on how much I want it. I can't flat out refuse to buy it. Heck, I've never even owned TNBC on any format, so it's not even a double dip.

mzupeman2

Digital copies come to me, and I never once downloaded one. And now I have to pay extra for something that I would never ever use? That's crossing a line.

Vipper II

Looks like digital copies will become the "combo disc" of the format. It sucks.

cartman

I hated paying an extra $5 for the DVD side of an HD-DVD (combos), and I certainly hate paying $5 extra for a digital copy that I'll not use.

bunkaroo

I was thinking the same thing - being forced to pay for something I neither want nor need.

Hey at least the digital copy doesn't affect the stability of the disc.

There's no way I won't buy Nightmare Before Christmas so I won't complain too much about that one, as I would have easily paid that amount if it were available via import for instance.

However, the artificially higher list price will definitely keep me from any blind buys. I was iffy on Prince Caspian, and if they had only offered the more expensive version that would have been enough for me to pass.

darkside

I would prefer the digital copy to be a separate release, because I have no interest in paying for some DRMed file I probably won't use. I can make my own free digital version for my portable device using the DVD I bought so I'm not paying extra for it.

kefrank

i wouldn't pay extra for a version with digital copy, given the choice. however, if i want the movie enough and there's only one release, i'm not going to avoid buying it just because there's a digital copy which they've used to justify a higher price. i may wait longer for a good deal though.

personally, i'd love to see studios ditch the physical disc for digital copy and just offer a digital copy download, for which you get charged separately when you download. i realize that's not good business (why do that when they can make people pay for something they won't ever use?), but it's more fair to the consumer.

tonyc3742

I'd prefer HD/BD+SD combo disk. That's much more useful to me than digital copies. Though I have and love my ipod, I don't have any other digital players other than a PC/laptop, which has a dvd player in it....and I really don't need instant digital access to any movie I've got. If I do want to take DVDs with me, I draw from the many SD disks I have. If I want a digital copy, I'll make my own from the disk I have (although I don't think I've ever done that, I just don't need or want it in a lower res, lower audio, HD-space-eating digital form.)
Pay to download the digital copy, or if you buy the hard copy you get a code to lower the price of the digital, I'd support that (I still wouldn't buy it, but I'd support that business model.)

RocShemp

I don't like the extra fee on Nightmare Before Christmas but will get it anyway because I love the movie. I much prefer the approach with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian because I have a choice (and slipcovers, though nice, mean nothing to me) to simply get the cheaper version that excludes the digital copy.

Michael Corvin

I'm there day one for Caspian, but no digital copy for me. Hopefully that 3-disc sets sinks like a stone so they can finally lay to rest this crappy digital copy bullshit.

tylergfoster

As well I like the system devised with Prince Caspian. Really what they should be doing though is just releasing slimcase DVD releases that are ONLY the digital copies for $5.

Dan

The problem is, there's going to be a significant number of people who DO buy the 3-disc version simply because they think they're getting more content. They just see a 2-disc and a 3-disc, and immediately buy the 3-disc. Most people don't even look at the back of the box to see the difference in content.

Then, after a week or two, Disney can put out a press release saying how consumers are "embracing Digital Copies included for a small extra fee." I bet less than 1% of people actually use their 'digital copy', if they own a disc that contains one.

As already mentioned, Digital Copies are the studios' way of artificially raising prices of discs (DVD and BD) under the guise of giving more content to the consumers. Lame.

Supermallet

I'd pay $5 to get Nightmare or Wall-E on my iphone. Do these digital copies work with Apple products?

Gizmo

Nightmare is on some store shelves already so hopefully someone can tell us for sure. I'll see if my Best Buy still has them out on Tuesday.

But since its Disney (and Steve Jobs is heavily involved with them) I would hope they will play on iPods.

wewantflair

What sucks is that what started out as the Managed Copy idea has morphed into this horse manure. HD movie piracy is growing substantially, and much of it could have been avoided with the managed copy idea.

Infrared Sight

No way would I ever buy a Blu-ray with a stupid digital copy that I will never use for more money. That is just idiotic.

TheKing

The only good thing I can see in the Prince Caspian release is that Disney might see that nobody cares about digital copy, especially when they're making you pay extra for it.

It seems odd for them to test this on Blu-Ray instead of standard def (maybe they're doing it on both formats). Blu-Ray buyers are more likely to know the difference between the two and won't just buy the more expensive one just because it hasw more discs.

Alan Smithee

Will any David Lynch movies be including these?

Seriously, forcing people to pay extra for something they're not going to use is just stupid. That's why so many people hated the HD combo discs, charging more for a "digital copy" (who the fuck came up with that term anyways- DVDs are already digital!) is even dumber since people like me don't even HAVE an IPod or anything else to use it on!

What if they'd charged extra for discs that had DVD-ROM content, which in the early years of the format not too many people could use? Or charge extra for including a "Fullscreen" version??

Trevor

I see little problem with this, as the only extra content is the digital copy. So no one will buy the 3 disc version unless they really want the digital copy. $5 seems fair for the expense involved in the extra disc (needed for space reasons I hope) and making a different edition available.

What I do have a problem with is the DVD releases we have had where the 1 disc edition is barebones, and the 2 disc has special features with them all being on the first disc, 2nd disc only for the digital copy.

Personally, I would think/hope that anyone who cares about digital copies for personal devices has been making them themselves from any of their DVDs for years now. So the whole idea of the public needing these digital copies is silly.