The only disk I've ever seen "rot" was a CD copy of Judas Priest Live. It still plays to this day but had bad lacquer around the edges so the reflective layer pealed off a few millimetres around the edge. Luckily CDs read from the inside out. I don't think it had a UPC as it it was a Columbia House CD Club version from probably the late 80s. I still listen to CDs in the car, many of them upwards of 20+ years old and have never had problems with anything other than JP: Live. I've also been collecting DVDs since 2000 and have many older than that that I bought second hand, and never had a DVD arbitrarily become unreadable. I did have one video game that was very flaky. That was Rayman: Raving Rabbids for the Wii (DVD format), but it was bought second hand and while it looked OK I always figured the disk was polished incorrectly by the store making the laser read inconsistent.

I wonder if rot is more prevalent in certain climates, say coast ocean areas where the humidity is high and there is salt in the air.

A few years ago, I had the predecessor to DVD's - the LaserDisc this was in 1982. I had a good selection, very good films/copies, including the original Star Wars.

When I moved back to the UK, I still used it off and on, but I noticed that some of the discs started playing up on picture playback.

I noticed that some of the discs were corroded, looking exactly like aluminium does when it oxides, this was only after about 10 years of the purchase date.

I no longer have the system, sold the player and the discs on eBay some time ago.

I had all 9 Series of the Flying Doctors from the UK that I bought in 2010 suffer from it. Was right across many of the discs in the 9 boxes. Strange discolorations started to occur across the disks and they became unreadable.

Was lucky in the meantime that a local release happened so I replaced it that way. I am sure I would of had trouble getting them replaced from the UK to Australia. These were released by Fabulous Films.

Disc is dead.

about 7 years ago  I had two HDDVD Warner Bros discs  of 'Phantom of the Opera' (2004) .., and Mutiny on the Bounty (1960) both dics .. wouldn't playback a certain chapter.. I tested it on three HDDvd  (Toshiba) machines and all playbacks  was the same results..   

But I managed to get a hold of the Head office for Warner Bros .,  whv@wb.com and outlined my situation  and got an email back saying to send them my home address to  person@warnerbros.com  (sic) ., and they sent me a prepaid postage envelope and since this was now around 2012 .. no longer carried HDdvd  but was able to swap these  titles to BlueRay  titles ..  and I couldn't be happier .. 

Not the same though for Elite Entertainment .. My copy or DVD of Lady In White (1988) also wouldn't load up and play  and I could not get any response/ reply  from Elite Entertainment  as they have changed hands and no longer are in business ....

2 of my Supercopter L'integrale De La Saison 4 Discs completely rotted as I could see what appeared to be a whitish film over the disc but was underneath.  From then on I made sure to backup my DVDs and Blu-rays to my PC.

really appreciated your reply here ..  I checked 'some of my 14'  disc set ( steel box collection,  but the discs would be the same ID .. )  One of my discs is physically pixallated  r fine cracks on outer edge of  the surface  ,, but It plays back fine ..

Now I am pretty sure if your were to contact Warner Brothers  below  they  will replace said discs.. MAYBE .

the information I have here is almost 10 years old .. but I was able to get a couple of DVDs exchanged , no charge,  with this program

Warners  Exchange Program
HEATHER BORG  //WARNER HOME VIDEO
416-730-6217 (w)  |  416-250-1105 (f)  |  heather.borg@warnerbros.com  ( Canada )

She may not be available anymore  but the phone  numbers should work .  Canada should have the USA numbers

My Infinifilm 2 Disc edition of Nightmare on Elm Street is dead. Manufactured at the same factory as all my Warner Bros. dvds with issues. My brother also noted most of his James Bond film in the Ultimate 2 Disc Edition box sets are also dead