Disney movies vanish from Google's movie store worldwide

Disney and Google are clashing over TV channels in the US, and the dispute is now spilling over to movie lovers around the world,.

The two companies cannot agree on the price for Disney's TV channels, such as ESPN and Nat Geo, on YouTube TV, which is a separate live TV service in the US. The deal expired in October and the channels went dark in the US a few days ago.

Although the conflict itself has no direct impact on the rest of the world, that is starting to change as tougher measures are being put in place.


All Disney movies gone
All of Disney's movies available for rent or purchase have just been removed from Google's digital shelves on Google TV, Android TV, Google Play and YouTube, according to a report by 9to5Google. It is still unclear which of the two companies was behind the removal.

This development is not limited to the US. In Europe and elsewhere, users encounter errors when trying to access titles from franchises such as Alien and Planet of the Apes in Google's movie store. The same applies to Star Wars and all movies from Disney Animation, Pixar and Marvel.

FlatpanelsHD encounters error messages such as "This video contains content from DisneyROW. It is not available" and "This video contains content from Fox. It is not available" when attempting to buy movies like Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and Alien: Romulus across multiple countries. The Disney and Fox sections stand completely empty.

Movies already in your library still play without issues on Google TV. Only new purchases and rentals are affected – users are instead directed to Disney+.


When will movies return?
Disney and Google have been negotiating for a while. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google is seeking lower prices and shorter contract terms with Disney because YouTube TV is growing at the expense of satellite and cable TV distributors.

However, with today's development, it does not appear that the two sides are close to reaching an agreement.

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Until then, movie lovers will have to look elsewhere. You can still buy and rent Disney movies through storefronts such as Amazon, Apple TV, Rakuten and Fandango (Vudu).

- Source: 9to5Google, WSJ