From bad to worse: the ongoing feud between Disney and Google hits Movies Anywhere

The ongoing, bitter contract dispute between Google and Disney has claimed another major casualty, and this one hits right at the heart of your digital movie library. Just days after Disney pulled all its live channels from YouTube TV and yanked its entire movie catalog from Google’s sales and rental storefronts, the feud has escalated.

According to a brief, context-less announcement (via 9to5 Google) on the Movies Anywhere website, Google Play and YouTube are no longer participating in the Movies Anywhere syncing program.

Why this is a huge, Disney-led blow

If you’re not familiar, Movies Anywhere is the fantastic, cross-platform service that lets you buy a movie from a participating studio (like Sony, Universal, or Warner Bros.) on one platform (like Apple TV) and have it automatically appear in your libraries on other platforms (like Prime Video and, until now, Google Play).

This move is not a coincidence. The key piece of information here is that Movies Anywhere is owned by Disney. The announcement on the Movies Anywhere site is dated October 31st, which lines up perfectly with the day ABC, ESPN, and all other Disney channels vanished from YouTube TV. This looks like a clear and calculated escalation by Disney, using its ownership of a key industry-wide service as leverage in its broader negotiations with Google.

What this means for your movie library

Here’s the good news; if you already had your libraries synced, your existing Movies Anywhere collection does not appear to be disappearing from your Google Play library just yet. You can also still access your complete, synced library through other connected services like Prime Video or Apple TV, even on a Google TV device (you’ll just have to use the Prime Video app, for example).

There is bad news, too. 9to5Google confirmed that any new purchases you make on other platforms will no longer sync over to your Google Play/YouTube library. The connection is severed for all new additions.

And, unfortunately, the good news is likely temporary. As many users know, Movies Anywhere requires you to periodically re-consent or re-link your accounts. Once your current consent agreement with Google expires on a per-user basis, Disney will no longer allow it to be re-established. At that point, it’s highly likely your entire synced library will vanish from Google’s platforms for good.

With Disney and Google reportedly not even at the negotiating table, it seems this relationship is only getting worse. This is another massive loss for users caught in the crossfire of a corporate dispute, and if things don’t change soon, many users are going to have to start thinking pretty seriously about how to move forward with their subscription budgets.