RufusAtticus

Just wait till it comes out on DVD.

LordSnooty

Is it coming out on DVD?

RufusAtticus

Everything comes out on DVD.

LordSnooty

I'll take that as an 'I haven't got a clue' :P

Valentine Pontifex

This is NOT merely giving it to a friend. It is giving it to the entire planet. If the copyright holders do not take at a minimum have their lawyers demand retraction then they risk the loss of their product to the public domain.

Quite bluntly, lawyers have forced web sites to remove clips of their clients' shows. If a website has as much as an image of the show it should be accompanied by a statement acknowledging the copyright just as any magazine would.

No harm? You can't possibly mean that. Unless you don't consider the loss of revenue to Showtime or to Penn and Teller is to be considered no harm. If people can watch the
show off a website, then they don't have to subscribe
to Showtime or buy/rent the VHS/DVD.

You can under fair use keep a copy for yourself and show it to a friend. But you cannot show it to multiple people. Technically showing to a group of people is a violation of the law though most of the time it is considered too small of a violation to go after. However putting on the web and publically giving out a URL is certainly not qualify as showing it to a small number of friends. That certainly qualifies as a public showing. The law is quite clear that a public showing is illegal, as are the FBI and Interpol warnings commonly found on rental tapes, etc.

LordSnooty

That applies to trademarks, not copyright.
I would only make it available to users of this board. I can't imagine more than a dozen people would want it. I doubt I'd put it online either, I'd probably post it out on CD-R.

For such a tiny handful of people, it makes no difference. Of course, if a DVD release is forthcoming, then people should buy that instead. But remember, that would contain all of the episodes, where I'd only be offering one.

Paul

Valentine Pontifex

I looked it up and strictly speaking that statement is true. But I have a hard time believing a jury is going to convict anyone on copyright infrigment if the copyright holder knowingly allow other people to do it.

If you put it on the web it is available to everyone one with an internet connection and a computer capable of handling the file. But no matter, giving it to a dozen people is a copyright violation (though one minor enough that it would probably be ignored).

I looked it up. If you distribute 10 copies you have committed a felony according to U.S. law. I will let you look up what the United Kingdom's rules are. Civil penalties start at whatever you can convince a judge and jury.

Okay I will go to Wal-Mart and steal a piece of candy. It is so small it will make "no" difference. After all Wal-Mart is far larger than either Showtime or Penn and Teller and that candy is far cheaper than a DVD. Somehow I don't think the security people are going to accept that. And neither will the DA.



And the "single episode" argument is utterly silly. I have reread the standards for "fair use" and distributing a whole episode is clearly not fair use.


Here is a typical note from a TV show. I took it from the credits of an episode of Babylon 5:

I think that is very clear as is "ALL RIGHTS RESERVED" which appears on virtually any copyright notice. The FBI Warnings found on tapes sold in the U.S. are also very clear.

ferrocene

I'm sure you'll find a copy. Hell you can get any episode of the simpsons, buffy, friends, etc on there.

Oh, and Valentine Pontifex, what's your point? Yes, it's illegal, so is jaywalking and suicide, I'd like anyone to try to stop me from doing either.

People live their lives accoring to their own justifications and moralas, not to US law. And besides, this is the internet, not everyone is from the US. There are other countries whose governments don't sell out to corporate pressures (copyright has been extended to lifetime+70 years, don't tell me this extention doesn't have anything to do with Mickey Mouse who came out in the 1930's).


Oh well. We're all a tool of something, right?

Bumble Bee Tuna

Some people don't have the opportunity to order showtime...living in a college dorm with a set TV package pretty much screws me over. There is no way Showtime would make money off of me, but I'd still like to see the show. I operate from a pragmatic perspective.

I suppose you're right about the webspace, though. It would be better to be a bit more sneaky that that, probably using some form of P2P file transfer.

Yes, it's illegal, but I operate on whether something is wrong, not if it is illegal.

Also, not everything comes out on DVD though I do agree that the chances are decent for this show.

-B

Principia

People,

Let's exercise a little bit of tact, eh? I realize that there is currently an epidemic of file-sharing going on the Internet, and that people are a little complacent about the whole matter, but ... explicitly a) asking for a copy of something you have no access to, and b) offering to provide the copy on a public forum ... is just asking for trouble. As far as I am concerned, if you got to plan something illegal, just don't let everybody know about it. It's almost ... commonsense.