TECHNOLOGY: Forcing people to pay again for what they originally had

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

https://cordcuttersnews.com/bad-news-for-babylon-5-fans/

Bad News For Babylon 5 Fans
By Luke Bouma on April 11, 2026

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Fans of the groundbreaking science fiction television series Babylon 5 received disappointing news recently as the show disappeared from major free streaming platforms in the United States. Amazon’s MGM, which holds distribution rights, has pulled the series from ad-supported services including The Roku Channel and Tubi. Viewers who once enjoyed legal access to all five seasons without a subscription or purchase now find themselves without that option. The move forces enthusiasts to either buy digital episodes, invest in physical media, or seek out paid subscription services where the show might be available.

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The removal from free platforms highlights the challenges in preserving access to older catalog titles. While physical Blu-ray releases offer high-quality remastered versions for collectors, and digital purchase options exist on various storefronts, the lack of free availability may deter younger viewers or those on tight budgets. Industry observers note that such decisions often stem from efforts to maximize revenue through exclusive deals or bundled content libraries. Amazon’s MGM appears to be repositioning the property, possibly in preparation for new distribution strategies or integration with other services.

For dedicated fans, the situation underscores the importance of owning physical copies or supporting official releases.

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I’ve often ranted about technology shifts that force people to pay again for what they originally had.  This is just another instance of that same gripe.

I used to have an extensive collection of self-help cassette tapes.  When the “Big Publishers” shifted to compact disks they expected me to re-buy all that content.  Not only couldn’t I afford it at the time but I refused to do it. Argh!

I wonder where in the Universe all that content is store for the eventual copyright expiration date?  

Or is it lost forever.

Argh!

Gooferment diktats like “copyright laws” really are misguided at best and the result of political “contributions” to politicians by Big Publishing!

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INSPIRATIONAL: The public domain is a priceless resource … … 

Saturday, December 27, 2025

https://standardebooks.org/about/standard-ebooks-and-the-public-domain

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The public domain is a priceless resource for all of us, and for the generations after us. It’s a free repository of our culture going back centuries—a way for us to see where we came from and to chart where we’re going. It represents our collective cultural heritage.

In the past, copyright was a limited boon, designed not to enrich a creator and their children’s children a hundred years from now, but rather to allow a creator to profit by granting a temporary monopoly on reproduction, in exchange for their work to be returned to the public after a few years. Our ancestors—in fact, the framers of the U.S. Constitution—recognized that art builds on art, and that locking up culture benefits a handful but harms the greater public.

Today, large corporations are putting a lot of money into twisting our laws to slowly but surely strangle the public domain, making it increasingly remote and inaccessible so they can continue seeking rent on ideas and culture nearly a century old. Today laws lock up work not just for the author’s entire lifetime, but for the lifetime of their children, and their children. Copyright can’t enrich the dead, but it can enrich powerful corporations … at our—at everyone’s—expense.

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This site has lots of free classic content. (It has to be in the 100,000’s count.) I like it for old SciFi classics that I read as a child. It’s a shame that Big Publishing keeps locking up content with ever expanding copyright legislation. I wish this was available when I was in school. Now if they just had textbooks, then I’d never have had to take the subway to the library, Laugh!

P.S.: I put a little money into this site to keep it going.

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