Quote:
|
Originally Posted by arnoldswim
The only way this kind of downloading would be illegal is if it were downloading a show on DVD. That hurts DVD sales, thereby is circumventing payment and profit to the author. Downloading a show that's only been aired on television is the same as taping, both legal because no profit is made, and they are used for personal uses.
|
This isn't exactley as legal as you want to say it is. The show is copyrighted. You are pirating copyrighted material. It can hurt potential DVD sales, since people may be less apt to buy the dvds when released if they already have a pirated copy. Companies also pay a lot of money for advertiesments on TV, and pirated copies usually dont have these commericals. And its not the same as taping, because the episode is being mass-distributed all over the world.
Unless somewhere in the copyright it tells you that you can freely distribute the show however you want, you cant.
Do you remember hearing the copyright disclamer on major sporting events? "The proceeding program is copyrighted by the NFL. This program may not be re-played in any form without written permission from the NFL" (or something along those lines). Video of these games are hardly ever sold, so no profit is lost here.
The bottom line is that the show is copyrighted.
Of course this doesn't mean that anyone really cares or is going to do anyhting about it...