Netflix, the popular streaming giant that revolutionized the way we consume movies and TV shows, is bidding farewell to its DVD-by-mail service. To celebrate the end of an era, Netflix is offering a unique giveaway to some of its subscribers – up to 10 DVDs. However, there’s a catch. The company wants all of its DVDs back.
In April, Netflix made the announcement that it planned to bring an end to its rental DVD option in the fall. But now, the company has informed its subscribers that they have the option to receive up to 10 additional DVDs chosen by Netflix themselves, based on the customer’s movie queue.
“After 25 years of movies in the mail, we’re approaching the end of our final season,” Netflix expressed in an email to its subscribers. “We really appreciate that you’re sharing movie nights with us until the last day. Let’s have some fun for our finale!”
On September 29, the extra DVDs will be shipped to subscribers’ mailboxes, coinciding with the final shipment day for the mail service. However, subscribers won’t know if they are getting the discs or not until they receive them.
The catch is that the DVDs must be returned by October 27, according to Netflix. Lindsay Spiller, an attorney for the entertainment and business law firm Spiller Law, clarified that Netflix cannot sell or give away the DVDs to customers because the company originally received them through licensing agreements with filmmakers and studios, who own the property rights.
However, as Spiller indicated, Netflix can modify its own terms of service, which allows customers to rent one DVD at a time. If customers fail to return the DVDs by the deadline, it will be up to Netflix to enforce its terms of service.
“I would behoove the subscriber not to try to find a workaround,” Spiller warned.
As for what will happen to the DVDs after the DVD.com arm of Netflix shuts down, there have been no details provided. Netflix’s help center website states that the company is “unable to sell discs from our rental inventory.” Netflix did not respond immediately to inquiries about the fate of the DVDs.
Mike Mandell, an entertainment law attorney for Mandell Law in Los Angeles, speculated that Netflix will likely return the DVDs to the studios or destroy them altogether.
Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service, which began in March 1998, saw more than 5.2 billion DVDs being mailed out to 40 million unique subscribers, according to a company blog post. However, the decision to end the service comes as Netflix aims to cut costs and focus on the booming streaming business, where it faces increased competition. The DVD rental service reportedly accounts for less than 1 percent of Netflix’s revenue.
“Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members, but as the DVD business continues to shrink, that’s going to become increasingly hard,” Netflix stated back in April.
As the final season of Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service approaches, subscribers eagerly await their surprise DVDs while contemplating the bittersweet conclusion of an era in entertainment history.