Many Purchased Movies Missing from Library

Hey dude I also had this issue. Seems to be a common problem. But good news! I have a solution.

Your purchases are merely hidden.

As copied from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4919?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

To unhide your purchases

1. Open iTunes on your computer. You can download the latest version of iTunes here.
2. If you're not already signed in, choose Store > Sign in. If you're signed in, skip to step 4.
3. Enter your Apple ID and password, then click the Sign In button.
4. Choose Store > View My Account. (You may be asked to enter your password again).
5. Click on View Hidden Purchases from your Account Information page.
6. Choose a content type by clicking Music, TV shows, Apps, or Books from the top.
7. Click the Unhide button next to the item you would like to restore.

If you have too many to unhide individually, e-mail or Chat with iTunes Support and they'll unhide them for you.

Hope it helps. If it works, spread the word!

Cheers

Hold on...

UNHIDE your purchases? How the **** did the get "hidden" in the first place?

You can hide your purchases, which you can do from the QuickLinks > Purchased option from the main page in the iTunes Store on your computer.

OOSK2K12, Thanks so much. I have no idea how my movies were hidden. I didn't do it, but at least they are available now thanks to your response.

Me too i have a large bundle of dirty harry movies, John Carter of Mars, and various other items missing from my usual 350+++ movie collection

And seeing as there is no way to get assistance because Apple are a 'No Reply' type company, all we can do is be robbed

My missing items are not in the hidden section. And i also can confirm that what somebody else complains about (that movies get added to the hidden section without the user having done it) is true.

Also sick of the fact that i cannot play these movies on other devices in my home, because of the stupid DRM

OMG Apple,

Are you for real? You lost my movie which cost me $20. All I wanted was my movie returned to my account. You give me 4 free rentals? LOL

Warning to all users: Remind yourself to check your iTunes libraries every 90 days. Support can't go back beyond 90 days. That's the best they can do. I was also informed that a simple update can hide or delete your purchase. Wow, that's all i wanted to hear. I've put my life into Apple products (work and play). You can bet I won't ever buy a movie again. Some of my other purchases I use more often and would notice them missing straight away. But a movie is not something you watch every day. I stick to my Blue Rays Apple. Thanks for the confidence booster.

I own 2 Apple TVs, 2 iPads, 4 iPhones, 1 Apple watch.

Thanks again

I Had this issue about a year ago. Three Marvel movies disappeared from my library suddenly. iTunes/Apple said it wasn't their fault because I "should have downloaded them to my computer to use AirPlay in this event" and that I needed to contact Marvel. Marvel said it was an issue with iTunes and to contact them. iTunes/Apple gave me 6 free movie rentals as long as they were $4.99 or less (which doesn't equal the $45 I spent on the movies). When I complained further that it was pointless to have a streaming device if I couldnt stream movies I PAID for, especially for Apple to just REMOVE them without WARNING OR MY CONSENT from my digital library, and that I would therefore download EVERY movie I bought on iTunes (well over 100 movies and more than $1500 worth if they were at least $15 a pop) to an external hard drive and never purchase another movie through them again, the movies reappeared in my library over night. So they had the ability to return my purchase to me the entire time. But even when I showed them purchase numbers and receipts sent to me by Apple, they said it wasn't their fault and they couldn't help me any more than giving me 6 free (and really worthless when you think about it) movie rentals. Point is: complain and you'll get them back. Apple will cave and give you what you want. I know they say in their agreement that you should download and keep movies for personal use, and I have since adopted that, but the fact that I buy ALL my movies on my apple TV for STREAMING FROM MY CLOUD, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO WATCH THEM FROM MY CLOUD WHEN I WANT.

This is the movie studios that put this restriction in place. If you download the movie and put it in your personal iCloud Drive the file will remain available. However, if you stream the movie from iTunes directly you may run into issues due to the studio agreement Not Apple request. It the same deal with Vudu, Amazon, Google video etc.

http://danhon.com/2013/02/13/dont-trust-itunes-movies-in-the-cloud/

Right, but when I contacted the studio, they said it was iTunes problem. iTunes told me the studio had removed and added a new version of the movie to iTunes, which the studio flat out denied. The studio said my movies shouldn't have been removed. My point is that if I pay for movies on a streaming device (and they WERE stored in my iCloud) they shouldn't ever be removed from my library. I've paid for the copy. I own THAT copy. If that's not the case, then iTunes needs to SEVERELY drop their purchase prices on movies. In all honesty, for the money I spend on a digital only copy of the movies I buy through iTunes, I could purchase a DVD/BluRay/Digital HD combo pack in store. But I prefer the digital because, typically, I get it sooner than the DVD/BluRay and it takes up NO space on my shelves. iTunes wanted to "compensate" me by giving me 6 movie rentals at $4.99 each. 1. A lot of movies that are $4.99 rental or less are not movies I would watch. 2. Yeah you get 30 days to watch a rented movie...until you start it at which point you have it for 24 hours and then it's gone. iTunes rentals are a waste of money. And then my movies just reappeared after I said I wouldon't purchase another movie through them, convenient. It means they had the ability to return movies they removed for no reason, chose not to, but then realized they were losing a customer caved to pressure. I've since learned my lesson and have bought a large external hard drive specifically for my movies, since storing them in my iCloud is clearly not the best option. Also bought an updated computer since the one I had wasnt compatible with AirPlay Streaming.

When you purchase a movie on Apple TV it is not stored anywhere, it is simply streaming from the cloud. The iCloud drive that was referenced is the storage space used for documents in the cloud etc. It is the users responsibility to download the contents to a hard drive and have it backed up, the studio gave incorrect information because they are the ones who have the agreement in place and things are removed/changed by them and does apply to all digital services.

Sadly the content owners can remove items from the iTunes store on occasion whether or not consumers or Apple like it.

In the old days before on demand cloud streaming we'd have always downloaded a copy of the movie/tv show to iTunes (or AppleTV 1 itself), and then streamed the movie over the LAN from iTunes or direct from AppleTV 1's hard drive.

It is therefore wise, but perhaps a chore, to download a copy and also keep a backup of all purchases in case they become unavailable.

As an aside, there have been several reports (I've seen it too) where purchased movies do not show in the list of purchases on AppleTV - if however you search for the movie in the store you may be able to simply play it rather than buying again.

Any items you've had a refund on will no longer be available for cloud playback/redownload, but I have a couple that used to play but not much point as there were issues with video encoding/quality to begin with.

I purchased "Equalibrium" on itunes and now it's not in my library. It's not in my hidden movies. I do see that it can be purchased again, so it's not a question of itunes losing the rights to the movie.

I have the same problem, the entire Nolan Batman trilogy just dissapear, i didnt buy any device more from apple

but they took your money and they must know when these changes are occurring at least they could notify customers...

You cannot download 4K movies that you have purchased. You can only download a 1080p copy. How do we backup the 4K resolution version?