Is Downloading TV Shows Legal?
from the good-question... dept
Salon is running a piece on how many people are sharing and downloading TV shows using tools like BitTorrent, some going a bit further than the original broadcatching concept to create applications, like Buttress designed specifically as an RSS aggregator for BitTorrented TV shows. The article delves into one interesting issue that not too many people have discussed: is downloading a publicly broadcasted TV show illegal? As the article notes, it would be very difficult to show any kind of "harm" from such a download. Obviously, sharing premium content shows is a different issue, but what if someone already subscribes to the premium station in question? The real issue is that the TV industry suddenly has less control. There is also the fact that with the way BitTorrent works, anyone downloading a show is also automatically uploading a show -- but, again, this is a situation where the entertainment industry appears to be shooting themselves in the foot. For years, they've tried to come up with systems for TV-on-demand, and here's a way that users have figured out how to do it for them. The people downloading TV shows via BitTorrent are watching more TV, which should be good for the industry. Unfortunately, the industry still only thinks in terms of how much they control, rather than how much they can serve the needs of their viewers. It's amazing that the industry is so good at missing every opportunity that seems to come its way. Unfortunately, the industry also seems to view intellectual property law as a way of protecting business models, rather than protecting content. That they can't see a new opportunity staring them in the face speaks volumes about the sorts of "business" minds running the entertainment industry.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
But what about the ads?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: But what about the ads?
I guess it depends on if you interpret "downloading" as time-shifting or distribution.
Of course if someone shares, say, an AVI of a Simpson's episode on Kazaa then it IS copyright infringement as they are "re-broadcasting" without a specific license to do so, with or without commercials (as having the commercials does not in and of itself give you license to distribute copyrighted media).
But what I wonder is, if its legal for ME as a user to receive the broadcast, ie: download it. If a TV station broadcasts a show illegally and I tape it, sure, the station as a distributor is in trouble, but am I for having taped it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: But what about the ads?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Forget the ads?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Forget the ads?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Downloading from ABC.com
least on the Jimmy Kimmel Live site on go.com.
I was a the show Monday when Lenny Kravitz played,
and they allowed immediate download of the show
after the broadcast.
You do have to use a driver from ABC to get to the
video, but it is downloaded to your machine, not
web or stream fed to you
Jim
[ link to this | view in chronology ]