With the end of physical PlayStation games looming, the need for clear digital ownership rights is more pressing than ever.
For its part, Sony believes your rights are very clear: you do not own your digital games, and it's unlikely you're stupid enough to believe otherwise. At least, that's roughly the argument the company's lawyers are presenting in response to a proposed class-action lawsuit.
Sony argues that its current customer-facing disclosures ensure that "reasonable consumers would not be misled" into believing they actually own their digital games. That's according to a Game File report (paid article link) citing an August 21 filing Sony's lawyers made in California's Northern District.
The problem with this argument was their short-sighted business model. They sold digital games for the same price as physical games.
If consumers are accustom to "owning" physical games, and then pay the same price for digital, of course they would assume they own those as well.
If instead you needed to buy a subscription to each game that came out, and they only charged $10/month for the latest AAA game, the "you don't own it" argument would actually be reasonable.