Sony erases digital content from libraries; we’re reminded we don’t own what we buy

索尼从用户库中删除数字内容；再次提醒我们：买下的东西并不真正属于自己

Sony recently informed its PlayStation customers in the United Kingdom that they will no longer be able to watch previously purchased movies and shows from production and distribution company StudioCanal. As of September 1, affected customers will no longer be able to stream 551 titles from the PlayStation Store.

索尼近日通知英国的 PlayStation 用户，他们将无法再观看此前从制作发行公司 StudioCanal 购买的电影和电视节目。自 9 月 1 日起，受影响的用户将无法再通过 PlayStation Store 播放 551 部相关作品。

In a legal notice first spotted by gaming news outlet PlayStation LifeStyle, Sony said that affected customers will lose the ability to stream titles including Outrage: Way of the Yakuza, Paddington, Paddington 2, Pan’s Labyrinth, Rambo 3, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas “due to our content licensing agreements.” As of September, Sony will remove any affected titles that UK users bought from their PlayStation library, per the notice.

在一份由游戏新闻媒体 PlayStation LifeStyle 最先发现的法律公告中，索尼表示，受影响的用户将失去播放包括《极恶非道》、《帕丁顿熊》、《帕丁顿熊 2》、《潘神的迷宫》、《第一滴血 3》、《终结者 2：审判日》以及《穿条纹睡衣的男孩》等作品的权限，原因是“我们的内容许可协议”。根据公告，自 9 月起，索尼将从英国用户的 PlayStation 库中删除所有受影响的作品。

It’s possible that Sony may still make a deal with StudioCanal by September 1, or even after, that would allow users to keep watching the content they bought. This happened in 2023, when Sony said it would have to pull 1,318 seasons of Discovery shows from customers’ libraries. A few weeks after its announcement, Sony said that it would not pull the content because it had updated its licensing arrangements with Discovery.

索尼仍有可能在 9 月 1 日之前甚至之后与 StudioCanal 达成协议，允许用户继续观看他们购买的内容。这种情况曾在 2023 年发生过，当时索尼曾表示将从用户库中下架 1,318 季 Discovery 频道的节目。但在公告发布几周后，索尼表示由于已与 Discovery 更新了许可协议，因此不会下架这些内容。

Still, affected customers shouldn’t keep their hopes too high. Sony already pulled 314 StudioCanal titles from libraries in Germany and Austria in 2022. More recently, Sony deleted people’s Funimation digital libraries after it decided to merge the anime streaming service with Crunchyroll. Sony has also been scaling down its digital store and stopped selling movie and show rentals and purchases in August 2021. Even if StudioCanal were willing to make a deal with Sony, it’s feasible that Sony has less interest in retaining digital titles than before.

不过，受影响的用户不应抱太大希望。索尼曾在 2022 年从德国和奥地利的库中删除了 314 部 StudioCanal 的作品。最近，在决定将动画流媒体服务 Funimation 与 Crunchyroll 合并后，索尼还删除了用户的 Funimation 数字库。此外，索尼一直在缩减其数字商店规模，并于 2021 年 8 月停止了电影和节目的租赁与购买服务。即使 StudioCanal 愿意与索尼达成协议，索尼目前对保留这些数字作品的兴趣也可能大不如前。

Regardless, the incident is a reminder that we don’t own the stuff we purchase digitally. Instead, digital rentals and purchases are merely long-term licenses that are only valid for as long as the streaming service has the right to distribute said content. Often, that’s a finite amount of time. Still, Sony’s announcement has frustrated some, including those who believe Sony should offer refunds or who think digital stores should stop using terms like “purchase” for long-term rentals.

无论如何，这一事件再次提醒我们：我们购买的数字内容并不真正属于自己。相反，数字租赁和购买仅仅是长期许可，其有效性仅限于流媒体服务商拥有该内容分发权的期限内。通常，这个期限是有限的。尽管如此，索尼的公告还是让一些用户感到沮丧，其中包括那些认为索尼应该提供退款，或者认为数字商店不应将长期租赁行为称为“购买”的用户。