If you’re going to be firing up your TiVo, PlayStation 3, or iPad today to watch a film like Ghostbusters, Resident Evil, or The Social Network via Netflix, don’t be surprised when you don’t find any trace of them. That is to say, all Sony Picture films have currently been pulled off from Netflix, due to a contractual issue.

The immediate reasoning behind this actually has nothing to do with Netflix and Sony or the relationship between the two companies. Instead, Netflix is given access to the catalogue of Sony Picture films from a contract between them and Starz, the pay television channel that is owned by Liberty Media. The contract currently between Starz and Sony allows Starz to play those films on their own television station, while holding streaming rights to them as well which they allow Netflix to utilize.

The wrench in all this comes from the original agreement between Sony Pictures and Starz in which there exists a subscriber cap. Netflix, which currently enjoys more then 23.5 million subscribers, has gone over the cap which was allowed in the contract. In reaction, Starz decided to pull all Sony Pictures films from Netflix in order to not violate their original contract with Sony Pictures.

Starz has gone on record and stated:

 “all parties are working diligently to resolve the issue and return the films to Netflix members.” 

While Netflix was not available for comments, instead just displaying on their website that “a temporary contract issue between Sony and Starz” is the cause of the problem.

All in all, this seems like a minor issue and not some ideological move on Sony’s part. As we speak, I’m sure that there are lawyers from both sides raking up a massive hundred thousand dollar fee and will have the films up and running for your viewing pleasure in a short time.

[Via LA Times]