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Posted by Colin B on 02/08/07 07:16
"PTravel" <ptravel@travelersvideo.com> wrote in message
news:MAwyh.59462$wc5.55193@newssvr25.news.prodigy.net...
>
> "Colin B" <Colin B@cb.org> wrote in message
> news:45ca8bd8$1@clear.net.nz...
>> Are there any recorded instances of individuals being sued for keeping
>> recordings of TV shows for too long, or for copying them from tapes to
>> DVDs?
>
> I have no idea. Why is that relevant to this discussion?
The original poster (OP) asked whether he could legally copy a client's tape
to DVD of a TV show, and whether he could do this "without fear of lawsuit
from the copyright holder". What the OP is doing here is carrying out a risk
assessment of the likelihood of being sued if he does this job for his
client. Now if there aren't any known instances of people being sued for
copying old tapes of TV shows to DVDs, then the OP might conclude that the
risk of getting into trouble if he copies the tape to the DVD is so low that
it's well worth the risk involved to do this sort of work for his clients.
Risk assessment is a basic part of making most business decisions, so that's
why I completely agree with the logic of the OP for asking this question and
I consider it's absolutely relevant to a discussion on copyright.
Now let's apply this risk assessment principle to the illegal posting of
copyrighted items on a site such as Youtube. Because there are (apparently)
few (if any) instances of uploaders to Youtube being sued, thousands of
people have decided it's worth the risk to keep on uploading items without
first getting copyright clearance. But if uploaders knew that it was very
likely that they would get caught and be fined thousands of dollars for each
illegal item posted, then Youtube's copyright problems would vanish quickly.
The law is one thing, but it's the enforcement of the law that really
counts, and no law is of much use if it isn't enforced, not even a copyright
law!
Now here's a thought, the OP could explain the applicable copyright law to
his clients and ask them to sign a written agreement which states that they
are required to take the full risk if legal action should be taken as a
result of his copying a tape to a DVD. The agreement could also state that
the DVDs must be entirely for personal use. However, the OP would no doubt
refuse entirely to copy tapes to DVDs if he thought that the clients were
going to sell the DVDs at a profit.
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