(Pocket-lint) - UltraViolet, the digital film service set up by a majority of the major movie studios, is to shut down. You will soon lose your digital library of films unless you link them to a retailer in the US or Flixster in the UK.

The company that runs UltraViolet for the studios, The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), has informed users that it plans to close the service completely on 31 July 2019 and has recently been sending out final reminders.

Users have been told to link their accounts to a retailer that supports UltraViolet films. They can access them from there.

The DECE has released a statement on the myuv website that explains some of the steps users need to take before the end of July. It says you will still be able to redeem digital codes until then - maybe even after, if your linked retailer supports redemption.

UltraViolet has been around since 2011, offering a cloud locker for digital movies generally given away as part of a DVD, Blu-ray or, in more recent times, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release.

Codes found inside the boxed copies could be redeemed via several websites, including dedicated locations for the studios themselves. Once redeemed, the digital version was made available to users through different retailers and online services.

However, in the last year or so, many retailers withdrew support. For example, Rakuten and TalkTalk TV both stopped supporting UltraViolet digital lockers in 2018. And Flixster closed in the US around the same time.

Ironically, Flixster is now the only way to access UV movies in the UK and offers downloads via mobile and desktop apps, so you should link your library to that and start saving your content to a computer or mobile device if you want to keep any movies beyond 31 July.

Writing by Rik Henderson.