OK to give free copy of TV show?

OK to give free copy of TV show?

I recorded almost all of the PBS "National Parks"
in digital high def video with stereo sound.

Turned out rather well.

Is it legally OK to give a full copy (something like
10 2-hour DVD discs) to a friend?

Bill

willbill wrote:
OK to give free copy of TV show?

I recorded almost all of the PBS "National Parks"
in digital high def video with stereo sound.

Turned out rather well.

Is it legally OK to give a full copy (something like
10 2-hour DVD discs) to a friend?

Bill

Unlikely.

Even on PBS, things like that are usually copyrighted. Home recording is
usually limited to "time shifting" in order to view the programming
later on screens in that household. A portion of the program can also be
played back for educational purposes (percentage of "allowed" portion is
vague). Some educational institutions may have permission to make
complete copies, but it really isn't safe unless the copyright holder
has provided specific permission.

On Oct 13, 7:26*pm, willbill wrote:
OK to give free copy of TV show?

I recorded almost all of the PBS "National Parks"
in digital high def video with stereo sound.

Turned out rather well. *

Is it legally OK to give a full copy (something like
10 2-hour DVD discs) to a friend?

Bill

IMO when they send it into the ether, it's available for all
(theoretically) to receive. Your friend missed it but you didn't. I
only see it as a problem if you charged him for it. BTW I sometimes
take in a DVD of a show that a friend missed. I guess I should watch
out for the TV police.

G²

On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:22:12 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Oct 13, 7:26*pm, willbill wrote:
OK to give free copy of TV show?

I recorded almost all of the PBS "National Parks"
in digital high def video with stereo sound.

Turned out rather well. *

Is it legally OK to give a full copy (something like
10 2-hour DVD discs) to a friend?

Bill

IMO when they send it into the ether, it's available for all
(theoretically) to receive. Your friend missed it but you didn't. I
only see it as a problem if you charged him for it. BTW I sometimes
take in a DVD of a show that a friend missed. I guess I should watch
out for the TV police.

G²

Hmmm, interesting philosophy. I suppose it's also OK to speed if no
police are around, and to run through a stop sign as long as there's
no other cars on the other road.

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:22:12 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Oct 13, 7:26 pm, willbill wrote:
OK to give free copy of TV show?

I recorded almost all of the PBS "National Parks"
in digital high def video with stereo sound.

Turned out rather well.

Is it legally OK to give a full copy (something like
10 2-hour DVD discs) to a friend?

Bill

IMO when they send it into the ether, it's available for all
(theoretically) to receive. Your friend missed it but you didn't. I
only see it as a problem if you charged him for it. BTW I sometimes
take in a DVD of a show that a friend missed. I guess I should watch
out for the TV police.

G²

Hmmm, interesting philosophy. I suppose it's also OK to speed if no
police are around, and to run through a stop sign as long as there's
no other cars on the other road.

That seems a poor analogy to me. Speeding is speeding. Actions taken for
profit are often legally different than the same action not taken for profit
('often] is not the same as 'always').

IMHO, the people that care about enforcing this are not concerned about
whether or not you tape something for later viewing (well-established as
legal) and share it with a single neighbor.

What they DO care about is that it is not being widely distributed to the
extent that it would have an impact on the future value of whatever was
taped. Of course, if many thousands of individuals are doing this, then
these folks would have a concern about this. Onsey-twosey - only if it set a
precedent that affected future enforcement in broader cases.

Using the speeding analogy I would view this as going 35.00001 mph in a 35
mph zone. This is illegal, but it is also close to undetectable, a marginal
risk to 'the perpetrator' or others in the area, and unlikely to be a
serious concern to anybody. "Unlikely", "marginal", and "close to
undetectable" are not the same as "can't happen", "no", and "undetectable".

dave

On Oct 14, 11:09*am, "Dave Lee"
wrote:
swnip
That seems a poor analogy to me. Speeding is speeding. Actions
taken for
profit are often legally different than the same action not taken
for profit
('often] is not the same as 'always').

IMHO, the people that care about enforcing this are not concerned
about
whether or not you tape something for later viewing (well-
established as
legal) and share it with a single neighbor.

What they DO care about is that it is not being widely distributed
to the
extent that it would have an impact on the future value of whatever
was
taped. Of course, if many thousands of individuals are doing this,
then
these folks would have a concern about this. Onsey-twosey - only if
it set a
precedent that affected future enforcement in broader cases.

Using the speeding analogy I would view this as going 35.00001 mph
in a 35
mph zone. This is illegal, but it is also close to undetectable, a
marginal
risk to 'the perpetrator' or others in the area, and unlikely to be
a
serious concern to anybody. "Unlikely", "marginal", and "close to
undetectable" are not the same as "can't happen", "no", and
"undetectable".

dave

I submit that in a single instance you may actually be doing PBS a
favor. If the show was good (and I'm sure it was) the neighbor would
be more (rather than less) likely to watch the next show on PBS.

BTW would it be less 'bad' if it was VHS instead of DVD?

G²

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:26:56 -0500, willbill
wrote:

OK to give free copy of TV show?

I recorded almost all of the PBS "National Parks"
in digital high def video with stereo sound.

Turned out rather well.

Is it legally OK to give a full copy (something like
10 2-hour DVD discs) to a friend?

My guess is probably not but if it's a one time deal to your friend I
wouldn't be too concerned about being chased down by PBS.

Here's a .gov link that seems intentionally vague but I doubt you fall
into any of the exceptions listed.
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
Mike O.

Hi,

Pardon my intrusion here, but I need to reply to this thread.

On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:22:12 -0700, stratus46 wrote:

On Oct 13, 7:26Â*pm, willbill wrote:
OK to give free copy of TV show?

I recorded almost all of the PBS "National Parks" in digital high def
video with stereo sound.

Turned out rather well. Â*

Is it legally OK to give a full copy (something like 10 2-hour DVD
discs) to a friend?

Bill

IMO when they send it into the ether, it's available for all
(theoretically) to receive. Your friend missed it but you didn't. I only
see it as a problem if you charged him for it. BTW I sometimes take in a
DVD of a show that a friend missed. I guess I should watch out for the
TV police.

G²

I have always quipped:

“If it’s free to air,
it’s free to share.�

… when I am asked to answer such questions.
(I believe I may have been among the first to say/type it in
that exact phraseology, esp in the early days of homemade
analog–to–digital captures.)

FWIW, I have also been recording PBS’s OTA ATSC streams with
SiliconDust HDHomeRun boxes, and with FireWire–equipped
Mitsubishi Diamond DLP TV, alongside suitable computer software.

Sharing PBS programs ought to help with Donations as well.

The series might already have been posted, somewhere.

(but most people want shrunken cruddy versions of most shows,
e.g. using the ‘xvid’ codec & the like,
rather than the glorious True hi-def versions,
probably mainly due to ISP bandwidth & speed–capping issues
[and also due to having lower–powered computers etc.]
which is why U.S. ISPs are not listed very high in the
global Internet Speed rankings.)

btw I see UseNet as the world-wide library system, where
copies of posts (text & binary) are placed at thousands of
servers all across the planet
(and whomever can receive such signals in Outer Space lol).
Talk about backup & redundancy.
UseNet is definitely better than p2p at any rate.

Thanks for letting me spew.

willbill wrote:

OK to give free copy of TV show?

I recorded almost all of the PBS "National Parks"
in digital high def video with stereo sound.

Turned out rather well.

Is it legally OK to give a full copy (something like
10 2-hour DVD discs) to a friend?

Bill

Tell your friend when you give it to him that he recorded it himself and
if anyone asks and you say the same.

"willbill" wrote in message
...
OK to give free copy of TV show?

I recorded almost all of the PBS "National Parks"
in digital high def video with stereo sound.

Turned out rather well.

Is it legally OK to give a full copy (something like
10 2-hour DVD discs) to a friend?

Bill

In a word, no.

You can however probably invite the friend over to watch the copy with you
under fair use doctrine established by the US Supreme Court.

But just barely and probably for a limited time given the number of
Hollywood lawyers working for the Obama administration.

And I am sure that the movie studios would disagree, since they don't
acknowledge ANY rights to mere viewers of their magnificence.

But then, I am neither a lawyer nor do I watch law shows on TV.