Time to update a post from back in September on the changing world of video. The key point was, per Bloomberg:
Old-fashioned video rental stores, and Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service, are governed by something called “first-sale doctrine”: Once I sell you a physical copy of a movie or song, you can do whatever you like with the physical object, except copy it or show it publicly… But streaming is governed by a different set of rules for digital content. You can’t stream a movie to someone unless the rights holders have agreed to let you do so. … Essentially, Netflix cannot afford to buy the rights to all the movies you want to watch.
That means that a niche market might remain for such old-fashioned video rental stores in select markets. How’s that working out?
The bad news: Up in Raleigh, North American Video is closing its last two stores, leaving the city without any video-rental stores. This leaves Durham’s Avid Video as the Triangle’s only free-standing video store.
The good news: Here in Charlotte, there’s VisArt. As Creative Loafing notes, it will soon be… moving to a new location. The current location on 7th Street is a bit pricey and there’s limited parking.
