Ok let's cut out all the bull-crap about internet downloading and all that fun stuff.
Is it illegal for me to copy a tv show off off tv, and the send the tape to someone else for either a) trading of another copied show, or 2) for money?
Are there any loopholes?
If I only charge money for my time, expenses , etc, is it still illegal fr me to send someone a copy that way? Is TRADING of copied TV shows illegal?

I find that i never get clear answers as most people are not really to sure!
thanks,
Notorious VIV

Viv,

I think it's only a matter of time when trading and selling are absolutely illegal in the US, and I don't want to be the first to be used as an MPAA example. Laws are gray in the area of trading, while selling falls too close to being illegal for my taste, even simply charging for minimal expenses.

This board and others will be discontinued when/if the laws regarding tape trading become definitive. Yahoo, specifically, works at staying within legalities, so I think they'll be one of the first to shut down the tape trading groups. TJ has made it clear that should tape trading become illegal, the trading section of this site will be discontinued pronto.

This has been discussed over and over on this board, and rightly so. I'd suggest that if you don't get enough comments to satisfy your conscience, you might want to try using the search engine on this site.

I hear ya, and I wish that this subject was more concrete. The US and Canada have different laws regarding tape trading. You'd be best off getting information from Canadians, where there's little doubt that it's presently illegal.

Jen

I think you will always be able to trade, it just might go back to email and will probably only be trading with former traders. I personally think as long as you stay away from downloads and current marketable shows, the studios will not care. They never seem to care about shows until they are losing money(ie current shows).

Tom D.

it's illegal to sell, but it is legal to trade.

Technically, it is illegal to trade and sell copies of stuff you have taped. It is only legal to tape and keep for yourself and if you make a copy, you must destroy the original.

But enforcement wise, most energies are geared towards those that pirate movies (of which there are a plenty) and recent TV shows (which studios can make most of the money from with thier legit releases).

Also, there is stuff that has fallen out of copyright and anybody can distribute.

Notable examples of this are some episodes of "The Lucy Show", "Night Of The Living Dead" and other assorted movies and TV shows that anyone can legally sell.

If you go to the "budget" section of a place that sells DVD's, most of the stuff you will find is public domain. Often, you will find some movies and TV shows on different labels.

It's funny that there are some specific episodes of some TV shows that have gone into the public domain. The same 8 or so episodes of "The Andy Griffith Shows" are on several DVD labels they are somehow in the public domain (some of these releases replace the opening theme because of possible copyright violation though). By the way, Season 1 of The Andy Griffith Show is on the way later this year from Paramount. Same thing with the Dick Van Dyke show. There are 6 episodes that have been released by several public domain labels (even after the authorized season sets released by Image)

Bottom line though, trading is technically illegal but pretty much tollerated most of the time. The rest of it depends on what the copyright owner believes thier material is worth and if they haven't allowed the copyright to lapse.

Hooray for mego for setting the record straight! If there is still any doubt in anyone's mind about it, s/he can read the copyright notice at the end of any tv show and see for themself that if they aren't the copyright holder, they are breaking the law by 1. copying and 2. distributing (i.e. selling, trading, or giving away for absolutely nothing) said material.

Copyright protection is an international issue; the law does not differ, at least not significantly, between the US and Canada, or many other countries for that matter.

mego, how does one know/find out if something is in the public domain or not?

Doing a google search, I found these interesting pages on public domain TV shows:

http://www.topiclink.com/info/article?page=5

Movies:

http://www.fesfilms.com/masters.html

There are lots more links like these.

Jen

Does anyone know why some episodes of a given TV show are public domain and other episodes are not?

I find that confusing