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Copyright v. Piracy: "It's not theft." | by Illiad | 2008-08-27 16:36:18 |
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Here's more questions: | by UGuardian | 2008-08-27 17:54:13 |
| Speaking hypothetically.... |
by josie_beller |
2008-08-27 18:26:01 |
Say there's a TV show that TPTB have refused for years to release on videotape, and now are continuing to not release on DVD. Now suppose that there's a fan club, and someone in that fan club taped the show when it first aired, and is in possession of the means to make copies of their tapes and distribute them to fellow fans.
The most common rule I've seen for this situation is that the copier should only ask for or accept compensation for the cost of the blank tapes they use to make the copy, and the postage needed to ship them. Asking for anything for their time or the wear and tear on their VCRs is frowned upon, and anyone trying to make a profit usually gets hounded off the list. In a way, the fans are helping to support the copyright holder's rights, by making sure no one else gets to make a profit from their work.
The fans of the TV show "Forever Knight" once asked the creator of the series what he thought of their sharing tapes in such a way. His reply was, "Be fruitful and multiply." A year or so ago, at least fifteen years after the show aired, TPTB finally got enough requests from fans to convince them to release the series on DVD. The first season sold well enough that they went ahead and released the second and third. I can't claim that 100% of the people who got fourth-generation VCR copies of the show later bought DVDs, but a heck of a lot of them did. Presumably the people involved in the show have now gotten due compensation for their work.
So, personally, I think that getting yourself a copy of a TV show which is not available for purchase is okay -- as long as you *do* buy it if/when it does become available for purchase. Even if you really aren't as into that show by the time the DVDs come out, if you got it for free, you should be willing to pay for it when you get the chance.
This does nothing to hurt sales. Most of the time, I find it's the opposite effect; people who got a show before the DVD release tend to stay fans and recruit other fans, so that there are more people willing to buy the DVDs than their would have been if no one was able to see the show for all those years. But, it only stays morally acceptable if you *do* buy the DVDs when they become available; otherwise, it is theft, even if you weren't able to pay for it originally. |
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