IP Democracy: AOL Strikes Multi-Studio Movie Deals

The Internet is positively overflowing with downloadable movies, from Movielink to CinemaNow to Guba and soon, or so the cognescenti say, Apple’s iTunes. Now, add AOL to the mix.

AOL (in a move that might take the stink off the subscriber search data fiasco) announced today it has downloadable movie deals with a slew of studios, including, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

The films from these top motion picture distributors will join the growing mix of video content at AOL Video, which already has 45 “on-demand” video channels. (It’s odd how AOL has, in fact, amassed an impressive collection of video content and yet isn’t widely known for this feat.) Fox and Sony will also make some of their TV shows available for purchase on AOL Video.

Prices for the movie downloads range from $9.99 to $19.99. It’s significant that the content can be downloaded and viewed only on PCs or portable devices — the company is saying nothing about burning the films to DVDs.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on August 24, 2006 6:48 PM to IP Democracy