ANCIENT
HISTORY: When VHS
and Sony Beta tape cassette recorders were introduced into the
consumer market in the 1970's, the entertainment industry
went crazy. Lawsuits claimed that copyrights were being
violated in mass by the general public. The entertainment
industry claimed that they would be doomed unless Congress
acted immediately. Imagine.people would actually record
television broadcasts!
In its infinite wisdom the entertainment industry, especially
the movie industry, lobbied to ban the production of consumer
video tape recording devices. Of course video play back
devices were okay, because it would allow the very profitable
spin-off industry of movie tape rentals. In a nutshell, they
wanted our cake and they wanted to eat it too. After all of
the lobbying and countless court appearances, it was decided
that the public had the right to record signals that were
broadcast over the airways. They could even make archival
copies of their purchased movie |
tapes. This was actually
fortunate for the movie industry. Consumer tape recording
devices were very expensive. It would not make sense for
consumers to purchase an expensive tape device that only
played rented tapes. The tape rental industry would almost
certainly have perished in its infancy.
In response to these new laws, movie studios began to
introduce copy guard systems to prevent tape duplication. The
most popular copy guard is Macrovision. Macrovision is a
licensed process that adds cost to production. Many movie
tapes, however, do not have a copy guard.
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Have you ever seen a dog
lying next to a bone? The dog has lost interest in the bone,
but will fight to the death to keep it away from anyone else.
Just reach for it and the cute little puppy will turn into a
hideous, snarling pile of teeth and fur.
Well, someone has reached for the bone again and the movie
industry is unhappy, once again. In the last couple of years
information on how to copy a DVD movie to recordable CD has
surfaced. Some company's even sell automated programs so
that non-technical consumers could make copies of their
movies. Now the movie industry and their lawyers are growling
and snapping at everyone in sight. Lawsuits abound. The target
is anyone who produces a software program that lets you back
up your DVD movies. The claim is that back up programs allow
for the illegal sale and distribution of copyrighted movies.
Anyone who possesses the ability to make illegal copies must
be guilty. Although the movie industry will most likely lose
their cases, they hope to win with sheer muscle. The actual
purpose of the suits is to drive small software companies out
of business by keeping them in court.
In the last few years, DVD
recording devices have been introduced for consumer use.
Prices have fallen from several thousand dollars to around
$300 today. For
more info on DVD copying Click Here
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Blank DVD recordable
media is available for less than a dollar each, down from
about $45. Until this year, only a few individuals knew how to
copy a movie DVD to a recordable DVD. The information is out
there on the Internet, but you had to be a rocket scientist to
understand it. Now that is changing. Expert-Guides,
the leader in providing quality, how-to information, has
released a series of DVD copy manuals. They are continually
releasing more and more titles, some dealing with converting
Divx to DVD and other related topics. The new guides are
easy to follow. Now even a novice has the power to back up DVD
movies. Like it or not, the industry is changing.
As Internet
speed improves, clever movie houses may sell movie files
on-line to be downloaded and burned to the customer's own
DVD blank disc.
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Once again the movie industry is
trying to shoot itself in the head. "Those sinners, those
Evil-Doers, they are trying to copy our movies!" What the
movie industry fails to realize, it that people who are
renting and copying DVD movies are, renting those DVDs. People
are renting DVD movies they never thought of renting before.
The feeling of power when one learns to copy DVD movies, leads
one to do crazy things. "I'm going to rent all of the new
releases. "When I am finished with those, I really must have
the original Outer Limits collection in my library." "I
can't pass up the newly re-mastered Flying Nuns series"
(and so on!). The point is that more offerings for rentals
leads to more purchases of DVD movies by the video rental
companies. These rentals are not lost sales; they are
additional rentals leading to additional sales.
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"Until
this year, only a few individuals knew how to copy a
movie DVD to a recordable DVD."
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For
more info on DVD copying Click Here
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Will
movies ever be the same? |
Copying rented DVD movies for
private viewing is somewhat of a gray area and, most
importantly, it is not practical to haul the offending party
into court. Imagine you are the prosecuting attorney. Your
case has an equity problem: "Your Honor this party owes the
price of a movie, and we pray for a box of popcorn as punitive
damages. Also the defendant deserves 5 years in jail and a
$100,000 fine for his destructive and felonious behavior."
People who rent movies are usually people who saw the movie in
the theater. How many times should people pay to see a movie?
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