Warner Bros.’ Problems Impact Physical Media! DVDs Suffering Unexpected Disc Rot Need Replacing, But The Company Has Been Slow To Respond
In a world where movies and shows, old and new, are at a greater risk than ever of being shelved, erased, or thrown down an abysmal memory hole, never to be preserved for posterity, physical media looked like our salvation.
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Or so we all thought. Warner Bros., whom we’ve found out has been rotting from the inside for years, failed to quarantine the sickness ailing them, and it has spread to their DVD catalog. Titles that have been in collections for years are coming down with bad cases of “disc rot.”
This outbreak of wear and tear is not impossible, but it is affecting DVDs made and released between 2006 and ‘09, which should be built to last a long time. Moreover, collectors knew the Warner disc rot has been an issue for years yet the studio has been slow to respond to the growing outcry.
One reason the crisis is getting attention right now is due to JoBlo’s Chris Bumbray raising awareness. Discs from WB he owned wouldn’t play and look like garbage, so he got the word out. Warner Home Video was forced to finally issue a statement, which came with a promise to replace as many damaged products as they could.
Their statement begins, “Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is aware of potential issues affecting select DVD titles manufactured between 2006 – 2008, and the company has been actively working with consumers to replace defective discs.”
It continues, “Where possible, the defective discs have been replaced with the same title. However, as some of the affected titles are no longer in print or the rights have expired, consumers have been offered an exchange for a title of like-value.”
They close by providing an email address for customer support. “Consumers with affected products can contact the customer support team at [email protected].”
DVDs can corrode, but they are typically more durable than CDs and should last up to a century with the right treatment and conditions. However, according to reports by The Verge and The AV Club, some have been found broken and discolored out of the box.
Collector and YouTube film historian Damn Fool Idealistic Crusader made a master list of Warner DVD releases from the late 2000s that are certified rotten, and not in the critical sense.
It contains 215 titles and counting, including volumes of Batman: The Animated Series, The Adventures of Superman, cuts of Blade Runner, Alfred Hitchcock collections, and much more dating all the way back to the golden age of television. Some titles are unavailable on Blu-ray and/or streaming, and because of their rarity, are in danger of being lost forever.
Long live physical media? We’ll see, won’t we?
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