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Walt Disney Co. has achieved something that many in Hollywood—and Silicon Valley—have been attempting for years: Getting Apple Inc. and Google Inc. to play nicely together.
In an unprecedented agreement to share rights to digital content, the two tech giants will allow consumers who buy a Disney movie from either of their online stores to watch it on smartphones, tablets and other digital devices that run their rival’s operating system.
Starting Tuesday people who register with the Disney Movies Anywhere app and buy a copy of “Frozen” from the Google Play store on an Android tablet, for instance, can later watch the film on an Apple TV through their iTunes library.
Until now, Apple has restricted movies, TV shows and other content to its own family of iOS devices, along with Mac or Windows computers. Google placed similar restriction on its digital store and Android-powered devices.
Such a strategy can help to lock consumers into one hardware company, but Hollywood studios have long argued that it makes people wary of buying digital movies because they must worry that if they buy a different device, their film library will disappear. DVDs, by contrast, work on players built by any manufacturer.
Both Apple and Google will pay Disney a wholesale rate for each copy of a film that they sell and keep any profits, regardless of the devices on which people watch.
“This is about getting people comfortable with building their digital movies collection,” said Jamie Voris, chief technology officer at Walt Disney Studios. “Disney is going to protect them and make sure they can watch their movies wherever they want to.”
The deal is particularly notable because every major Hollywood studio save for Disney is part of a coalition called Ultraviolet that, like Disney Movies Anywhere, is designed to let people build a library of movies online without worrying about restrictions on the devices they can use to watch.
Ultraviolet launched in late 2011, more than two years before Disney Movies Anywhere. Yet the backers of Ultraviolet, which include Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. and Sony Corp.’s Sony Pictures Entertainment, have been unable to persuade Apple to join Ultraviolet. Though its market share has been falling, Apple still controls 61% of online movie sales, according to research firm IHS.
Google, which is also not part of Ultraviolet, accounted for 7% of U.S. online movie sales in the first half of 2014.
“The approach Ultraviolet has taken relative to the approach Disney Movies Anywhere has taken is slightly different,” said Jonathan Zepp, head of Google Play Movies partnerships. “[Disney’s] was the one we felt was the right path for us to move forward with right now.”
Asked whether other movies from studios were likely to become available for similar sharing between Google and Apple devices, Mr. Zepp called such a proposition “philosophically interesting.”
The agreement applies to Disney movies purchased online and digital copies that come with Blu-ray discs.
A spokeswoman for Apple declined to comment.
Disney and Apple have had close corporate ties since the media giant’s 2006 acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios, which at the time was controlled by Apple’s then-chief, Steve Jobs . Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger is on Apple’s board and a trust controlled by Mr. Jobs ’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, is the largest shareholder of Disney, with a 7.5% stake.
Mark Teitell, general manager of Ultraviolet, noted that apps from companies that are part of his coalition, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Vudu, are usable on Apple and Android devices.
“We tend to look at what a consumer can do with six major studios’ titles,” Mr Teitell said.
With Apple and Google, Disney Movies Anywhere now works with retailers that account for more than two-thirds of digital movie sales. Ultraviolet works with stores that account for less than 12%.
Amazon.com Inc., which made up almost 9% of digital movie sales in the first half of this year, is in talks with several studios to join Ultraviolet, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.
Though it releases fewer movies than other major studios, Disney is a powerhouse in the home video market because its family-entertainment titles are more frequently purchased so that young children can watch them repeatedly.
Disney Movies Anywhere launched in February, but worked only with Apple’s iTunes at the time. A version of the app for Android devices launches Tuesday. Despite the expanded usage rights under the Disney deal, the economics of digital movie sales will remain the same, a knowledgeable person said.
This is a very interesting development that if forced by more studios will outline the digital future for content providers - FINALLY.