This Reply Has Been aLong Time Coming.....So, If anyone still cares........
sbgsus said:
I was saying it CANT be illegal...
cos stuff like tivo and dvd recorders would not be sold o_O
When a television or radio station decides to broadcast any material, the artist, owner, producer, distributer, whoever, has already been compensated for the "works", consequently they (the stations) are, to the extent to which it applies to royalties, the end user. They have initiated the "download", so to speak. The issue of taping off-air broadcasting was settled decades ago, and although some in the industry would like a "do over" on that, it still resides under a "fair use" doctrine. Just don't attempt to re-re-broadcast it, for any reason.
The silliness of threads like this comes into play when you try to carry this "fair use" doctrine into realms where it was never intended to go, and certainly can't apply.
If you beg, borrow, or steal an episode of of a TV show and make it available on the internet, you breech the fair use doctrine, since you aren't the original purchaser of the work. Only the original purchaser, (the TV or radio station), has the right to initiate the "download", the original broadcast.
Certain copy protections are built into DVRs (TIVO and the like) in an attempt to prevent the migration of copyrighted material beyond the machine in question, if not to the owner/artist/studio's complete satisfaction, at least to the extent of legal compliance.
The best argument against copyright legislation is this one; when you ,I, or anyone outside the entertainment industry goes to work, whether it's picking up trash or building rockets to the moon, we get paid on Friday and that's the end of it. Like that's gonna fly.
A store bought DVD recorder WON'T copy a protected source, and it's illegal to modify it to do so. But it certainly can be used for creating a DVD from an off air broadcast.
This is certainly a contentious issue and I get the feeling the entertainment industry would like you to give them royalties for showing the new DVD you just purchased to the rest of your family. This seems like asking for more than you can hope to get in an attempt to get at least as much as you actually expect.
Probably the best course of action with copyrighted materials is this; use good judgment, employ an ethical standard of fair play and decency. Be vigilant and active in confronting new methods of DRM, learn which of your rights are being usurped. Try not to patronize companies which are leading the charge against fair use, Sony comes immediately to mind. "I don't care how many rootkit trojans they put in my computer I'm going to buy a PS-3"! Do you see how contra-productive that sounds?
Remember, expecting unfettered reuse of copyrighted materials is asking far more than you can ever expect to achieve. The only thing you will accomplish is pissing off their corporate lawyers. They have the time, money, legislation and backing to make your life miserable, all we have is each other.
Remember, "discretion is the better part of valor".
