Legal consequences of recording programes off TV

[Angus]

Three, if someone wants to preserve a show that is NOT available in any way, shape, or form from a distributor, but the person believes that show to have some cultural, intellectual, historical or news value, making a copy is something I don't see as a problem even if the law doesn't specifically allow it.

I have stuff on tape that will likely NEVER be repeated. Specifically entire Formula One Grand Prix races. They never repeat them in their entirity, never make them available on tape/disc and don't respond positively to requests for copies - even if one offers to pay.

[Shion]

Des!!! Des Mangan is the best Australian TV personality we've ever had in my opinion, with his crooked smile and warped humour. He had great taste in films and thanks to him I managed to get quite a good collection of uncut, widescreen euro cult/horror/trash masterpieces.

Ah thanks, couldn't remember his name! Didn't watch his show often (as I don't watch TV much in general), but am glad that a few others here remember him.

-Bon

[Rick Palidwor]

It's typically illegal to copy and keep a show but since it is impossible to
enforce we now have the levies when you buy blank media, at least here in Canada. Every time you buy a blank tape or CD there is a surcharge which goes to an organization which distributes them to artists organizations. I understand their concerns but 99% of the blank media I buy is for things I've created and it really bugs me that it is assumed I am engaged in copyright infringement everytime I buy blank media. (Just for the record the 1% of my questionable blank media purchases is for personal reference and I would never engaging in reselling of something I didn't own.)

Rick

[mattias]

99% of the blank media I buy is for things I've created

you can probably apply for a waiver then. i have one in sweden, which is good since they're about to raise the fee here quite a bit.

/matt

[Uppsala BildTeknik]

99% of the blank media I buy is for things I've created

you can probably apply for a waiver then. i have one in sweden, which is good since they're about to raise the fee here quite a bit.

/matt

I heard they were going to raise it VERY much, probably will drop the sales of blank DVDs in Sweden, everybody will just buy in big quantities from Germany of similar. If they are not entiteled for a waiver that is.

It is insanity :roll:

[marc]

I thought there was a class action suit in the U.S. many years ago where the major movie studios or distributors were trying to sue the manufacturers of VCR's because they felt that it was a violation of copywrite. Apparently nothing came of it.

[mattias]

Apparently nothing came of it.

well, it was ruled in favor of the vcr manufacturers which is the whole background to the battle that's still going on against authors of software that can be used for piracy.

it was not about whether taping was illegal though, but whether manufacturers could be held responsible for piracy commited using their equipment.

/matt

[Alex]

Unless a television station agrees to keep a copy of everything they have ever broadcast, and probably a back up copy as well, then any law requiring people to erase a show they taped after three months is just plain ridiculous.

This kind of a law annihilates the possibility of keeping any copied video for evidentiary purposes. A law that eats itself.

[wahiba]

The BBC has been quite glad that people had 'illegal' copies of some of the old b&w TV programmes. It has been the only source of missing episodes of Dr Who and Dads Army. The other big source has been 'acquired' demo tapes sent to Australia so the censor could check them. Not sure if the odd episode of Dr Who was 'banned' in Australia or not.

[Angus]

The BBC has been quite glad that people had 'illegal' copies of some of the old b&w TV programmes. It has been the only source of missing episodes of Dr Who and Dads Army. The other big source has been 'acquired' demo tapes sent to Australia so the censor could check them. Not sure if the odd episode of Dr Who was 'banned' in Australia or not.

Actually nothing from early home taping has provided a lost programme for the BBC...the shows of which you speak were recovered in the form of 16mm film prints that should have been destroyed but engineers "accidentally" took home...

However there are a handful of famous Doctor Who episodes that only exist in colour (as opposed th 16mm B&W prints) because a helpful American made betamax off-air recordings in the late 70's. Even then one story (Ambassadors of Death) the Betamax recordings is supposedly so poor that they cannot recolourise using it. Not convinced since I have a 1st Gen NTSC dub of that Betamax tape, I believe in time technology will enable the restoration team to achieve something with it.

THere was a chap recording onto VT at home in the 60's, he got the moon landing (the BBC wiped their own tape and thus have NO COPY of their own output that historic day) and some Patrick Trougton Doctor Who...but to save money he slit down 2 inch computer tape to 1/2 inch and none is playable today which is a crying shame. The tape simply wasn't up to retaining video signals.

Still they got the audio from his tapes. And no doubt somebody else was recording back then and has a stash of proper open reel VT's which retain stable images. I retreived some open reel home VT's from a jumble sale in 1993 that had been stored dreadfully...revealed pristene recordings of the 1980 Wimbledon final and of Voyager 2 being launched.

Since about 1978 British broadcasters have been required to keep their entire output (apart from weather forcasts and short news bulletins).

[Alex]

So does this mean the moon landing was faked? I can't believe no footage exists of that event.

[Angus]

So does this mean the moon landing was faked? I can't believe no footage exists of that event.

Miles and miles of footage exists.

The BBC's own broadcast is lost. Remember stations worldwide would have been taking a feed from the US and having their own studio based programmes. The BBC lost (most probably junked) its only recording of its own output on that historic night.

All of NASA's source footage exists as well as the 8mm film (yes!!!) taken by the astronauts themselves. Some of the latter is available on the DVD "For All Mankind" which is a documentary I CANNOT PRAISE ENOUGH and should be esential viewing for anybody who has even the slightest interest in space. The astronauts had super 8 cameras running at about 6fps I think, and shot a lot of home movies aboard the Apollo craft.

[wahiba]

so is my rather green standard 8 movie off the 405 line TV of the time the only recording of the BBCs moon landing transmission - well bits of it?

[VideoFred]

so is my rather green standard 8 movie off the 405 line TV of the time the only recording of the BBCs moon landing transmission - well bits of it?

Hey! My father did the same... on Super-8. Yes, I still have this film, in pretty good shape. It was a worldwide life transmission, right?

Fred.

[tlatosmd]

German ZDF still have their live show recorded from that night in 1969, and they show it every now and then. It was mostly two people in a studio, reporting about space travel physics, and people calling in to ask questions like 'Will they encounter aliens?' At one time they put in live b/w footage of Armstrong stepping down the stairs, and all you saw was one single foot and a few ladder stairs for about 5 minutes put together! :lol: Then the German host said, "According to our Houston telephone line, he's just said 'It's one small step for man'... "