Ultraviolet Cloud Movie Locker Set to Close During 2019

Ultraviolet Cloud Movie Locker Set to Close During 2019​

(January 31, 2019) With a rather surprising announcement, Ultraviolet (the movie locker floating in the cloud) is prepping to shut down. In a statement released to nearly 30 million account holders, the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (a consortium responsible for operating Ultraviolet) says the service will close operations effective July 31, 2019.

According to an exclusive story published by Variety, DECE’s president Wendy Aylsworth claims the move is “a response to the evolution of the market for online entertainment.” Aylsworth says that Ultraviolet was conceived at time when digital based services were practically non-existent. Over the last eight years, segment competition has grown and increased in complexity, especially considering the popularity of subscription based services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.

The concept behind Ultraviolet is rather simple, serving as a destination where consumers can store digital purchase rights for a particular movie title. In turn, the movie can be streamed or downloaded to multiple devices directly from a participating retailer (including the likes of Universal, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, and others). It’s important to note the service doesn’t actually store video files, only the electronic rights for purchased content. Therefore, Ultraviolet users aren’t technically losing access to previously purchased movies.

In the DECE’s statement, the consortium says consumers should follow these guidelines:

• Between January 31 and July 31, 2019
  • You can continue to access your UltraViolet movies and TV shows through the retailer(s) linked to your UltraViolet Library.
  • You can also continue to purchase new movies and TV shows and redeem digital codes by following the redemption instructions. Depending on the retailer, these new purchases and redemptions may or may not be added to your UltraViolet Library.
  • Linking your UltraViolet Library to additional retailers can maximize your access to your Library and help avoid potential disruption.
• After the shutdown date
  • Your UltraViolet Library will automatically close and, in the majority of cases, your movies and TV shows will remain accessible at previously-linked retailers.
  • You can continue to make online purchases and redeem codes, but these may only be available through that retailer, and will not be added to your UltraViolet Library.
• What should you do now?
  • As soon as possible, login at myuv.comand choose Retailer Servicesto verify the retailers linked to your UltraViolet Library. If your Library is not currently linked to a retailer or if you would like to link to additional participating retailers, select one or more retailers to link to your UltraViolet Library.
• Don't unlink or close your UltraViolet Library, as UltraViolet and retailers will be working together to maximize your continued access to movies and TV shows.

Ultraviolet says that users should expect further communication in the weeks and months ahead, as “some retailers may disconnect from UltraViolet before July 31.” You can read a complete FAQ detailing the shutdown, here.

 

[JBrax]

I got the email notification and was quite surprised. It seems just another indication that physical media is in it's last days. First Oppo and now this.

 

[Todd Anderson]

There’s definitely a shift in how folks manage/consume media. The streaming services are basically rendering ultraviolet useless..

 

[Michael Scott]

I think it's more a factor of MoviesAnywhere being the next generation of digital copies. Ultraviolet was fractured with not all the studios on board (Disney was a mess with UV) and once Movies Anywhere came out it had the support of pretty much ALL the studios. All new DC's are now being distributed through them, so UV was a dinosaur that was being phased out.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I'm gonna be honest, I have been sharing a UV account with two friends for a few years now. Whenever one of us adds a new movie, we all have access to it. I'm guessing we're not the only people who've done that.

Movies Anywhere has done a much, MUCH better job of making this next to impossible, which is why I think the studios have flocked to MA and why UV has been (very quickly) rendered obsolete.

 

[phillihp23]

I have over 300 movies on there. Let’s hope this shakes out ok and we don’t lose all our movies or have too log into numerous sites too access them.

 

[Paul Crowther]

Over here in the UK I could see this coming. Initially there was very little choice of retailers to play your UV movies from but that gradually got worse and worse until now there are no retailers at all who support UV.
So from my prospective it died last year sometime when the last retailer abandoned them.
I now theoretically have access rights though UV to a load of movies but no retailers to play them from i.e. all the online movies I have are now gone.
This is one reason why I do not buy streaming rights to movies and TV shows as you can easily loose them if the company you bought them from goes under or they looses the rights from the movie studio to provide that service to you.
Physical discs are yours forever, as long as you still have a machine to play them on.