If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably bought many DVDs and Blu-rays over the years that have come with “digital copies,” which you proceeded to ignore.  Until recently, I had no interest in digital versions of my movie collection.  I had no interest in watching movies on my computer when my TV is just one room away, I didn’t want my hard drive filled up with movies I would never watch, and I didn’t own a portable device capable of playing a digital copy.  However, for the past couple weeks I’ve been in the process of going through my many boxes of empty DVD cases (I keep all of my DVDs in sleeves/booklets) and while removing the paperwork from the cases I ended up with a stack of redemption codes for digital movies.  When I combined that stack with a newly purchased computer and my iPhone, I started to reconsider digital copies.  In the process of sorting through these movies and codes I learned a few things that might be of interest to anyone else out there like me, who has these codes but doesn’t know what’s involved in obtaining a digital copy or why such a thing would be appealing.  I would imagine at this point most average consumers still don’t care much about owning digital copies of movies  (and this is without getting into the whole Digital Rights Management debate, which is a topic for another time), and are content with their physical copies or streaming services like Netflix.  However, I would bet the average movie watcher owns at least a few “combo packs” that came with a digital copy, and might be curious about it.  So here are some things that you might find it useful to know.

Digital Copies expire!

If you’ve never read the fine print under the code on your digital copy page, you might be interested to know that the product you paid for does not have an unlimited shelf life.  True, most people don’t buy a combo pack because it contains a digital copy, but the fact remains that you paid money for something that has an expiration date.  You should be aware that if you put in your disc or follow the instructions on the paper packaged with your DVD you might end up being told that your code is no longer valid.  This happened to 7 or 8 of my digital copies, and the only common denominator was that they all had an expiration date in the fine print that had passed.  However, not every company sticks to the date, as I had many digital copies work fine despite the fact that the date was long past.  It was strangely inconsistent, both within individual studios and digital copy providers.  If you have, or think you will ever have, any interest in the digital copies you own, I would recommend redeeming them as soon as possible so you don’t miss out.

You can redeem (most of) your codes without actually downloading anything

For those who are worried about hard drive space (standard definition digital copies are in the 1-2GB range and high definition range from 4-6 GB), many digital copies can be unlocked without ever having to store anything on your PC.  (There are some exceptions to this, particularly with older DVDs which were only good for a one-time transfer to your computer.)  Regardless of which service you use (more on that below), generally your digital film collection will be kept track of within that service, allowing you to download or stream a particular movie when you want to and then delete it from your hard drive when you’re finished.  This process also allows you to access your collection on multiple devices, from anywhere with access to the internet, which is far more convenient that I initially would have expected.  (Note that some movies will copy directly from the disc in your DVD drive while others will simply be downloaded from the cloud, depending on the movie.)

The redemption process is varied and occasionally crazy

If you were to gather all of your digital copy papers together and sort them based on what their redemption instructions entail you could very easily end up with a different pile for every digital copy in your library.  At first glance it seems like every movie has a different process for unlocking a digital copy, ranging from the surprisingly simple to the ridiculously complex.  Some instruct you to go to a specific website for that individual film, answer a bunch of questions, sign your life away, offer up your first born child, get redirected to another site, download a particular software package and finally enter your redemption code.  For others, you simply pop in the disc that says “digital copy,” click one thing and enter your code.  Some digital copies work with multiple services while others are on only one, so it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to keep your digital collection in one place.  Older digital copies tend to be more complicated while more recent ones are usually pretty easy.  Regardless, you will have to sign up for some program in order to download your digital copy, so if you’re one of those people who is afraid of signing up for things online, digital copies just aren’t for you.

95% of your digital copies will be covered by one of two providers

As complicated as some of the older digital copies can be to unlock, for most movies the process is relatively simple and will involve either iTunes or UltraViolet.  In fact, more recent releases even offer digital copies that work with a variety of services, including UltraViolet, iTunes and others.  So far of the digital copies I’ve unlocked, 42 were available in iTunes only, 7 in Ultraviolet only and 8 in both.  With iTunes the process is very simple: if your combo pack came with a digital copy disc simply pop it in with iTunes running and it will prompt you for the code, if not, just click on the “Redeem” button in the iTunes store and type in your code.  For UltraViolet, you’ll have to log into their website and search for the film you want to unlock before entering your code.  Movies you unlock on iTunes can then be downloaded from the cloud to any device running iTunes, while UltraViolet will require you to download an app (generally Flixster) in order to watch your films.  While UltraViolet has a partnership with the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, which is an alliance between most major studios, most movies are still available on iTunes, while Disney and its associated films are only available on iTunes.  Things get a little murky when it comes to a series of films produced over a number of years.  Currently one of my Harry Potter digital copies is only available in iTunes while another is only available in UltraViolet.  I think studios are coming to realize that they can’t ignore iTunes, but things have been historically inconsistent.

Despite the many problems, it’s surprisingly convenient

I actually wasn’t planning to do anything with my digital copies when I started cleaning out my empty DVD cases, but something changed my mind.  Disney just recently introduced the “Disney Movies Anywhere” program/app which is basically like a compartmentalized library for just Disney movies (plus Pixar and Marvel).  I downloaded the app a month or so ago because I was curious, and I was surprised when it linked to my Disney Movie Rewards account and automatically determined which Disney movies I’d registered for rewards also contained digital copies.  On a whim I downloaded The Lone Ranger on my iPhone just to see how it worked, despite the fact that watching a movie on my phone wasn’t particularly appealing.  However, a week or two later there was a power outage at work and while I waited for the power to come back on I realized that I could watch the movie from my phone, making the outage much more enjoyable and giving me something to do to pass the time.  The Disney Movies Anywhere app is a little superfluous if you’ve already unlocked your digital copies on iTunes (although the app does have exclusive bonus videos and such), as they would already be available on your Apple device, but I can’t deny that having access to my library on my phone was surprisingly awesome to a movie buff like me.  Just be sure to download movies somewhere where you have wi-fi, as you could easily use up your monthly data just downloading one film.

In the end, you’ll have to decide whether digital copies of movies are something you’re interested in.  If you have a tablet or smartphone, travel often with your laptop, or have kids who might need to be entertained at a moment’s notice, then you might find some use in them, particularly if they were already included with DVDs you purchased.  My suggestion would be to at least go online and register your digital copies before they expire, even if you never do anything more with them.  It was immensely frustrating to learn that some of my movies had expired, even if it wasn’t much of a loss.  And who knows, you might find yourself at work one day when the power goes out and you’ll be glad you downloaded that copy of The Incredibles to your smartphone before you left the house.

What do you think?  Have you unlocked the digital copies of DVDs you purchased, or are the redemption codes gathering dust somewhere?  Would watching a movie on your phone ever appeal to you, or is the small screen just too annoying to deal with?  Are you the sort of person who has sworn off physical media for good, going fully digital?  Does anyone know of a place that either buys or takes donations of empty DVD cases?  Let me know in the comments!