Your Apple TV is not authorized to play this content

Question

Level 1

56 points

Your Apple TV is not authorized to play this content

I get this message ('Your Apple TV is not authorized to play this content') when I try to play any movie or TV show that I bought on my Mac Mini which I try and play via Apple TV. I have tried to de-authorize and authorize my account, rebooted the TV, and even rebooted the Mini that the media is on, but no luck?

Any suggestions on what I could do?

I will be returning the Apple TV if I am unable play my legally purchased content.

MacBook Pro's, iPhone 4, Mac Mini, iPad 16 GB 3G + WiFi, Droid X

Posted on Oct 15, 2010 7:24 PM

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Answer 1

mapex_venus Author

Level 1

56 points

Oct 15, 2010 9:37 PM in response to mapex_venus

Update:

1. I am able to play the SAME content on another Mac.
2. If I purchase a new TV episode on my Mini then it plays fine on my ATV. So it looks like the problem is with content that I purchased before I had the ATV.

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Answer 2

Drizcol

Level 1

4 points

Oct 31, 2010 6:58 PM in response to mapex_venus

Im having the exact same issue. Im interested in a fix.

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Answer 3

cliffvk

Level 1

1 points

Nov 13, 2010 6:49 AM in response to mapex_venus

If this is for the new ATV2, then the cable you use to connect to your TV must be HDCP capable. Some are. Some aren't. I bought a cheap one that was not and it didn't work. I bought a slightly more expensive one that was HDCP compliant and all is fine now.

From the ATV webpage:
Compatible with high-definition TVs with HDMI and capable of 720p 60/50Hz (see note 2)

Bottom of page.
Note 2: Requires HDCP when playing protected content.

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Answer 4

NeenaC

Level 1

4 points

Nov 29, 2010 2:59 PM in response to mapex_venus

I am trying to authorize a movie I purchased on my Apple TV V1 via wireless. and it keeps saying "You are not authorized to play this". What can I do?

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Answer 5

Sep 30, 2011 8:13 PM in response to cliffvk

This solution fixed the issue for me!

THANK YOU!

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Answer 6

stclair

Level 1

0 points

Sep 30, 2011 11:33 PM in response to jmanguitars

I get the same error on some video content (specifically from the iTunes Library on my Mac). Netflix is fine. Movie previews are fine. I didn't rent/buy anything since this issue came up. I reset the AppleTV (20 minutes of re-entering everything). I am going to try another HDMI cable but the error does not say HDCP as shown in other google searches regarding this issue ( http://www.tuaw.com/2010/10/05/hdcp-may-spoil-your-apple-tv-fun/ ).

Was able to play movies rented from the Mac a few weeks ago

Have not tried to re-authorize

AppleTV does not show under devices in iTunes - but I don't ever remember seeing it before

AirPlay'd movie from iPad1 - sound came thru no video (luckily I had a iPad to HDMI cable that was in my work case that worked otherwise movie night with the family would have been tragic)

I'm interested to learn how to fix this without having to waste 30 minutes fooling with three devices, four different wire configs, and a few swear words all while people sit on the couch and laugh at my earlier pronouncements of Apple being the best.

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Answer 7

stclair

Level 1

0 points

Sep 30, 2011 11:39 PM in response to stclair

Oh, I forgot to say: latest versions - no updates available on both iTunes and AppleTV

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Answer 8

aptps

Level 1

0 points

Jan 13, 2012 3:31 PM in response to mapex_venus

changing the HDMI cable did not work for me; de-authorizing and re-synching did not work... very frustrating...

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Answer 9

Feb 2, 2012 10:16 AM in response to aptps

Yeah, and so nice of APPLE to come into the forum and do jack squat to help us. It's not an HDMI cord issue, it's theft.

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Answer 10

bububorg

Level 1

4 points

Feb 4, 2012 8:54 PM in response to mapex_venus

A possible workaround that I was able to do was to AirPlay the content from the computer to the ATV2. For some reason, that works.

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Answer 11

Alley_Cat

Level 7

20,548 points

Feb 5, 2012 3:05 AM in response to appleisawful

appleisawful wrote:

Yeah, and so nice of APPLE to come into the forum and do jack squat to help us. It's not an HDMI cord issue, it's theft.

Apple only rarely provide any official support here - these are user to user forums and the main Apple activity is adding some announcements or moderating topics.

While a bad HDMI lead could cause an issue, HDCP and all copy protection does nothing but inconvenience/annoy genuine paying customers, and the issues are generally authorisation related in some obscure way and not related to hardware or cables (though they can be).

AC

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Answer 12

Alley_Cat

Level 7

20,548 points

Feb 5, 2012 3:06 AM in response to mapex_venus

mapex_venus wrote:

Any suggestions on what I could do?

I will be returning the Apple TV if I am unable play my legally purchased content.

What a poor customer experience.

Send feedback here:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

I'd consider taking it back too - while you're at it pester itunes Store support for a refund if you can't solve this (Report a problem from your itunes purchase history).

AC

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