Many Purchased Movies Missing from Library

It's obvious you have never tried it! You cannot download 4K movies in 4K. Here is an example:

This is my copy of Blade Runner 2049. As you can see, I bought the 4K version. Now, let's download it so I can watch it on my 4K monitor:

Uh oh. It's not showing the 4K or Dolby Vision logo. Let's try downloading it and see what happens:

😟 😕😠 6GB? That's definitely not a 4K movie, in fact, it's the 1080p version.

Apple doesn't even show the computer as being a compatible HDR device, let alone 4K:

Gail, it would be great if you could post screenshots of your successful 4K download. You're obviously able to do something that I cannot!

Thanks for the link Gail, I did that. You cannot download 4k movies to back them up.

Translation: 'buying' 4k movies on iTunes is a bait and switch scam. At best it's a long term rental. The Apple terms have not changed a bit, content can still be removed without notice, and you are still encouraged to back up your content...which you cannot do. Furthermore, at no time does the iTunes store state that you can only download the 1080p version while taking your money for a supposed 4K movie purchase.

Where did you find your Movies? Do you see a little cloud next to them? If so, then next time you do have Wifi, download whichever ones you want on your iPad locally. It make take a bit of time to download. Also, make sure you have enough room on the iPad to house them.

If those Movies are stored in your iTunes Library on your computer, then you can simply hook the iPad up to the computer and sync the movies. If you want to sync them but they are not in your computer's iTunes Library, then you can download them to that library by going to:

iTunes Movies Store

Click on Purchased under the Quick Links section

Click on Not In My Library

In Bottom right-hand corner, click on "Download All" if you want all of your movies to be locally stored on your laptop

If you can't find the movies you are looking for, make sure they are not hidden: Hide and unhide iTunes Store, App Store, or iBooks Store purchases - Apple Support

If you keep a local copy of all of your iTunes purchases in your local computer's iTunes Library, then you won't have to worry about losing media when it is changed in the iTunes Store. The copies that you own will remain in your library until you delete them.

Cheers,

GB

Apple Support is not here - this is a user to user technical support forum, and no one is trying to gloss over anything. In Apple's Legal Media Services Terms and Conditions, there are two bullets that clearly state your level of responsibility regarding your purchased media:

It is your responsibility not to lose, destroy, or damage Content once downloaded. We encourage you to back up your Content regularly.

REDOWNLOADS

You may be able to redownload previously acquired Content (“Redownload”) to your devices that are signed in with the same Apple ID (“Associated Devices”). You can see Content types available for Redownload in your Home Country at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204632. Content may not be available for Redownload if that Content is no longer offered on our Services.

As has been stated already. When you purchase your media, it is your responsibility to download it and keep it in a safe place. There is no guarantee that the item you have purchased today will still be available tomorrow, and if it isn't, there is no way to get it, and no way to avoid a new purchase if you must have the media.

All of your purchased media should be stored in your iTunes Library and backed up to an external source like Time Machine, if possible.

BTW - there is no "dishonesty" going on here. Apple has no control over what versions, releases, or other changes that go on in the media. If a media company decides to change something and call it a new version that you have to purchase separately, then that the distribution company. Apple does not make these changes.

It's your media, you are responsible for it. Put it somewhere safe, and you won't run into this issue.

GB

There is no "notification". It is simply the legal document regarding Media Services - all media services, whether they are used for an iOS device, a Mac, or via an Apple TV device. iTunes on your computer is your Library - your "hard copy" library, if you will.

If you feel things are not working the way they should, then I would recommend you talk to Apple Support about it. You see the clear evidence that you and you alone are responsible for the content of your media. I don't know anything about product number changes or how they work, so maybe someone at Apple can explain why that happens: iTunes Support WorldWide

Best of luck,

GB

Mmm no. That's not how I read it.

First of all, they ARE responsible for delivering the content to me one time. There is no "expiration period" specified in the iTunes or AppleTV TOS for an initial download.:

https://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/appletv.pdf

I do not have to watch a movie immediately upon purchasing it (per their terms) and in most cases don't or can't due to iTunes simply failing (which happens frequently with older titles). Anything lost under those conditions isn't covered by their "redownload" clause although I assume it's trivially covered by their "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" clauses anyway.

Second, Apple "removing" items from your Library list is deceptive. It may not be available any longer, but the item has been purchased. They could just as easily give a message saying "This item is no longer available for download". They instead surreptitiously remove the entry from your Library as if you never purchased it. Why? So you think you never did.

Third, as far as Apple "not having anything to do with it" that's a red herring. Apple controls the operational terms of iTunes, the method of operation and defines and negotiates the content distribution terms with content providers. They are directly involved and profit from these practices.

As I provided in my post from August:

In Apple's Legal Media Services Terms and Conditions, there are two bullets that clearly state your level of responsibility regarding your purchased media:

It is your responsibility not to lose, destroy, or damage Content once downloaded. We encourage you to back up your Content regularly.

REDOWNLOADS

You may be able to redownload previously acquired Content (“Redownload”) to your devices that are signed in with the same Apple ID (“Associated Devices”). You can see Content types available for Redownload in your Home Country at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204632. Content may not be available for Redownload if that Content is no longer offered on our Services.

Cheers,

GB

Not sure what part wouldn't work for a 4K movie. According to this snippet, (full link posted below), they also go to your Library like any other purchase:

Movies.

Now showing on all your screens.

Browse more than 112,000 comedies, romances, classics, indies, and thrillers. iTunes has movies from every major Hollywood studio and independents around the world. And you can buy or rent them in 1080p HD. Select titles are even available in 4K. Purchase on your iOS device, and your movie will be instantly accessible in your iTunes library on your Mac or PC. And vice versa. Tap to play, or download to keep a copy with you when you won’t have Wi-Fi. You can also watch on your 4K HDR TV with Apple TV 4K.

iTunes - Video - Apple

Am I misunderstanding something?

Cheers,

GB

I neither have a device capable of playing a 4K movie, nor have I purchased one for download (since there would be no reason for me to do so). As I indicated in my post "according to the snippet...."

I would suggest that you contact iTunes Support to see if they can explain the best way to be able to download your 4K films to your iTunes Library so that you will have ongoing access to them going forward: iTunes Support WorldWide

Best of luck,

GB

While I find movies, I didn't hide myself, hidden. My missing movies are just gone. They are not in my library anywhere. When I look for them they are all still available for purchase in the store. They want me to buy them all over again.

Ive had backed up items disappear from my hard drive. I have had movies bought in years past show up as being new in the library. I have also had plenty of movies previously downloaded show up in the que for things presently being downloaded. The computer program has always been fairly buggy & messed things up. End up with duplicates of some items & none of another.

Using itunes TV to play from the cloud has rarely been buggy. Except for when my favorite movies poof from the cloud & the only way to watch them is to pay full price all over again. Movies you watch & loose rights to are called rentals. Paying full price doesn't make any sense if they can at anytime be taken away.

To add to my previous comments. Every company involved in selling digital content should be catering to the people that buy digital content, instead of hard copies on dvd, instead of messing around with their purchases. The cloud is out there until the world goes back to the dark ages. So its up & running everyday anyway.

They sell content mostly at full price & they have to make more on the digital.

No packaging, assembly lines, employees by the hour, shipping, lost, stolen, defective batches of product, etc etc. Seems like a win win for them.

I found my movies but there is no option to unhide them. Also it seems that I have to be connected to Wifi to watch them but originally they were dowloaded locally to iPad (local icons) and I could watch without Wifi. I need to be able to watch them WITHOUT Wifi -- the original reason that I purchased them.

Hints? Whom shall I contact?

This just happened to me. I lost the entire original and new Batman series when the new "combo" packs were released. This is absolutely absurd. There should be a class action lawsuit about this, frankly.

I think it's likely that you've just suffered the "relist" problem (you hear about this a lot more with audio than movies). What happens is the studio pulls the title and relists it under a new product code. Bam, you just lost the movie. We just lost the entire Batman series (old and new!) when they decided to create "combo deals" with the movies. That's $70 (at least) lost + $70 to buy the two combos again. Our collection is pretty large, about 600 movies, and about 30 of them have been lost now. It's enough to warrant buying an external hard drive and home theater PC due to the value of the collection.

We'll have to rebuy them all anyway when 4K HDR fill in the blank comes out (lol, sigh).