Are Crunchyroll’s “appropriate compensation” for digital copy owners practical?

Summary

• Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini offered to provide “an appropriate value” of compensation for their digital copies.
• However, the approach seems impractical and inconsistent. 

When companies are purchased by other studios, the transition is seldom easy. A lot of issues creep up, and finding solutions isn’t easy. Crunchyroll acquired Funimation in 2021, and the process is still ongoing.

Recently, an issue about Funimation’s digital copies was being discussed by various fans online. The original Funimation offer allowed customers who purchased Funimation disks to redeem a code for a digital copy accessible via a digital rights locker. 

However, fans are worried about losing their digital copy access after the acquisition as Crunchyroll does not support this feature.

In an interview with The Verge, Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini revealed that the company is working to offer users migrating from the soon-to-shut-down Funimation app to Crunchyroll with “an appropriate value” of compensation for their digital copies.

When asked what “appropriate value” meant, Purini said, “So it could be that they get access to a digital copy on any existing other services where they might be able to access it. It could be a discount access to our subscription service so they can access the same shows through our subscription service.”

However, when The Verge writer Ash Parrish attempted to test Purini’s stated policy, he failed to receive the above-stated benefits. When he asked Crunchyroll for a premium subscription as compensation, he received no response from customer service.

All in all, Crunchyroll’s policy seems inconsistent and difficult to take advantage of. And fans will most likely lose their digital library access after April 2, 2024.

Source: The Verge