legality of dl-ing tv shows

**glagic** · 10-16-2003, 09:27 PM

is it legal to download television shows from online? i know music and movies are illegal, but ive never really heard anything about tv shows.

**Butch** · 10-16-2003, 10:17 PM

It is probably no different than recording a program on a VCR . . . only issue may come if the download doesn't include the commercials . . . but given the issues that nets have to deal with with TiVo, etc, I don't think they'd focus much on downloads.

**Jenny** · 10-16-2003, 10:21 PM

Oooh, you'd be surprised...

**glagic** · 10-16-2003, 10:33 PM

Originally posted by Jenny
Oooh, you'd be surprised...

what do you mean? am i better off my just not downloading any tv shows at all? cuz i really wanna watch CSI, but i just dont get the bestest reception at my apartment.

**Butch** · 10-16-2003, 10:40 PM

Originally posted by Jenny
Oooh, you'd be surprised...

I think the issue would be more with the distribution of the shows . . . not so much the act of downloading . . . except, maybe, for premium channels. TV is unlike the film industry and movie industry in that they don't charge for the product . . . at least they don't directly charge the consumer. TV, for the most part, is supported by advertising. However, cable companies might get pissed at you since you may be taking away from their revenue since you are getting a quality of picture that you couldn't have otherwise gotten for free . . . but I don't know how much of a case they would have given that you COULD technically get CSI for free over the airwaves.

But, of course, this is a litigious society . . . so the ACT of suing is common and easy . . . but I really wouldn't worry about it downloading TV shows.

Of course, I don't know crap about the law . . . this is just my ramblings

**raimin** · 10-16-2003, 10:51 PM

isn;t that the same argument with music
i can record music from radio, or mix cd

and tivo has no easy way to remove the data from the hard drive
you gotta hack it

**CluelessSi** · 10-17-2003, 04:31 AM

hmm.. you might want to think of it this way, if it is legal to download for free then why would they sell/rent the DVDs of the shows?

**bachviet** · 10-17-2003, 06:57 AM

Originally posted by CluelessSi
hmm.. you might want to think of it this way, if it is legal to download for free then why would they sell/rent the DVDs of the shows?

Because not everybody has the capability of DLing shows in digital format.

**gear02** · 10-17-2003, 07:14 AM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when you watch TV shows, it's different that listening to music or watching movies. With the latter, the companies make money on you by your admission ticket or purchase. With TV shows, they make money on the commercials that you watch. So I assume it's good to download IF the commercials are intact, but most of the time people splice out the commercials.

Now with more and more TV shows being released on DVD, I have no idea...

**cheapie** · 10-17-2003, 07:25 AM

uh....whitak? you're the legal guy.

**Butch** · 10-17-2003, 07:52 AM

Now that I think about it, I'm more certain that recording and/or d'ling shows is perfectly legal within some sort of fair use - provided commercials are in-tact. However, those distributing the shows could get in trouble . . .

Given that I've been thinking about the baseball game pretty much constantly since last night . . . the standard warning they run during the game popped into mind (I'll do my best to quote from memory) . . . "This broadcast is licensed for private, home viewing only. Any rebroadcast or retransmission without the express written consent of Major League Baseball is prohibited"

Also, from a more anecdotal standpoint, I can tell you that within the industry, downloading isn't much of a blip on their radar screen. TiVo is what keeps the nets (and us advertisers) awake at night.

**Merlin** · 10-17-2003, 08:18 AM

Butch has pretty much nailed it according to my understanding. When something is transmitted into your home, you can do pretty much whateer you want with it i.e. cut out the commercials. This was determined by the courts 25 years ago when VCRs came out and also when audio cassettes made it possible to capture radio broadcasts.

However, distributing the shows would be where you could get into trouble.

Funny how the world is changing. In the past it was bad to steal something (download something you don't have) but nowadays it seems the onus is now on the other side. So protect your data, if it gets downloaded you could be the one in trouble.

**Jenny** · 10-17-2003, 08:50 AM

All I know is in the irc channels I have been in, we are always cautious and we know that there is the possibility of getting in trouble for distributing tv shows. Not so much as movies & apps, but... I dunno, just that possibility I guess.

**Butch** · 10-17-2003, 09:02 AM

Originally posted by Jenny
All I know is in the irc channels I have been in, we are always cautious and we know that there is the possibility of getting in trouble for distributing tv shows. Not so much as movies & apps, but... I dunno, just that possibility I guess.

Well, yes . . . you said it right there . . . ". . . we are always cautions and we know that there is the possibility of getting in trouble for distributing tv shows."

**Jenny** · 10-17-2003, 09:37 AM

Yeah, that's true.

I know you can get in trouble for downloading movies, music & apps, but I'm not sure about tv eps. Also, so you all know, as far as I have seen, the commercials are NEVER in the eps that are floating around. That is part of the cappers job, is to edit it so there are no commercials.

**glagic** · 10-18-2003, 09:09 PM

so it comes down to this....

downloading tv shows with commercials = good
downloading tv shows with NO commercials = bad

right?

im just wondering...cuz ive heard that i can get these shows through bit torrent

**Jenny** · 10-18-2003, 09:19 PM

hehe I am 99.99999% sure that any tv eps you download from bittorrent will have no commercials.

**ray** · 10-18-2003, 10:40 PM

Legally speaking, any downloads that do not include commercials are illegal and do not constitute free use. If you are the distributor you are even more responsible than the downloader.

**raimin** · 10-22-2003, 12:58 PM

new artical on FCC to foil television piracy

http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/21/tech...v_piracy.reut/

**ray** · 10-22-2003, 02:23 PM

at least the FCC isn't suing end users. haha

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