Downloading TV Shows Illegal?

By KeeperOfThePizza
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Grand Master

markwolfe Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

There are legal precedents regarding using a home video recording device to record content you subscribe to and/or receive on TV for "time shifting" purposes. If you want the legal precedent, I believe it was involving Sony BetaMax and Universal.

Downloading TV shows from Youtube or other sources does not fall under the same category as time shifting a broadcast right from what you are already receiving. Currently, this runs afoul of copyright law - until such time a case is made that sets a precedent that it is OK to download whole episodes (say, downloading the entire Seinfeld 9 seasons or whatever, ripped from DVD).

Sure, you can catch Seinfeld daily on almost any channel these days (so it seems), but it does not give any individual the right to download them.

Veteran

Ash

Posted
Posted
My understanding is that the law says it is illegal to share/distribute things for which you do not own the copyright or distribution permission.

Using bittorrent, you're sharing/distributing. That's against the law.

Thats not entirely it. Partly but it's also to do with licensing and rating.

The channels that carry the show are the only ones licensed to provide it, you aren't allowed to provide it (share/distribute) like you mentioned but you are also not allowed to obtain it from unlicensed sources.

Also they don't want people downloading it because they cannot keep track of that to count towards ratings. Official ratings with what determines how much they should/could charge for advertising. So more people downloading the show, less ratings, less revenue from their ad spots.

They also don't like downloads obviously because they don't have the commercials. Even though yes, you may pay for your cable and record it on a DVR/PVR and skip the commercials, they have been fighting about the use of technology used to bypass commercials with such ease, since TiVo came on the scene.

Grand Master

shakey

Posted
Posted

Illegal or not, if KXAN and NBC wont let timewarner broadcast their signal, ill keep downloading my shows to watch them. Im not making a profit, and the signal they broadcast is given to them free by the government, so watching the show in another way when the first way isnt available , i see it as being ok lol.

Grand Master

markwolfe Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
Illegal or not, if KXAN and NBC wont let timewarner broadcast their signal, ill keep downloading my shows to watch them. Im not making a profit, and the signal they broadcast is given to them free by the government, so watching the show in another way when the first way isnt available , i see it as being ok lol.
(N)

Along the same lines, one could say:

Illegal or not, if Microsoft and Adobe wont let The Pirate Bay torrent their software, I'll keep downloading Windows and Photoshop to install them. I'm not making a profit, and the software they torrent is given to them free by the government, so downloading the swoftware in another way when the first way isn't available , i see it as being ok lol.
Obviously not a perfect analogy, but the concept of some "right" to infringe copyright is still the same between the two.
Grand Master

Hum

Posted
Posted

Well, I download a few shows to rewatch them.

I often toss them out then.

It's not for personal profit.

As for the ads, I either buy the product already or have no use for it.

If it's illegal to watch a a TV show that was once aired for 'free', then shoot me. :s

Grand Master

giantpotato

Posted
Posted
Well, I download a few shows to rewatch them.

I often toss them out then.

It's not for personal profit.

As for the ads, I either buy the product already or have no use for it.

If it's illegal to watch a a TV show that was once aired for 'free', then shoot me. :s

*boom headshot*

Mentor

iZoom

Posted
Posted

It does seem to be a touchy area. If I can record something that is given to me freely, whether I watch it on my DVR or on

my computer is my prerogative. The argument that the individual should be watching "time-shifted" material only on their

personal TV is a weak one. Is big brother watching everyone's tv set to make sure?

I often will forget or miss the half of a show, so I will find it online. Either a youtube-like site or download it, watch it, and dispose

of it. While some individuals out there will likely download shows to sell them as dvds, most people I think just want to catch

up on their show.

Grand Master

trag3dy

Posted
Posted
Well, I download a few shows to rewatch them.

I often toss them out then.

It's not for personal profit.

As for the ads, I either buy the product already or have no use for it.

If it's illegal to watch a a TV show that was once aired for 'free', then shoot me. :s

This. One way or another they're getting their money out of me. I don't see what the huge issue is. If I don't watch it on TV, but buy it on DVD later. They still aren't getting money from commercials.

Mentor

Denholm

Posted
Posted
Well, I download a few shows to rewatch them.

I often toss them out then.

It's not for personal profit.

As for the ads, I either buy the product already or have no use for it.

If it's illegal to watch a a TV show that was once aired for 'free', then shoot me. :s

Same here. There would be a lot of people who do just that, good luck taking legal action against millions of people.

To me its as simple as, TV programming is not going to rule my time. I watch what I want, when I want.

Grand Master

kylejn

Posted
Posted

To me, there's a difference between whether something is illegal versus whether something is unethical.

1. Downloading TV shows available OTA: Illegal, but not unethical

2. Downloading TV shows available on cable channels you subscribe to: Illegal, but not unethical

3. Downloading TV shows available on cable channels you do not subscribe to: Illegal, somewhat unethical

At least, that's my opinion. For number 3, I feel that there's an exception if there is no way to purchase the show without purchasing the channel (e.g. True Blood episodes aren't available for purchase, so I'd have no problem downloading them).

Mentor

iZoom

Posted
Posted

Well not only that, I pay for cable each month. If I choose to watch my shows when they air or when I feel like it, that's my choice.

If I missed tonight's Stargate: Atlantis episode, I was "able" to watch it, but I was occupied playing GTA:IV. If it were to air again

as a repeat or I download, there is no difference. I still paid for that show to be available for me to watch.

Grand Master

giantpotato

Posted
Posted

By that logic all songs that have ever aired on the radio should also be free.

Oh, and if you're invited to a friends house to watch a movie, but decline, you should also be able to download that movie for free since you wouldn't have paid for it anyway, or you friend could have lent it to you.[/sarcasm]

Besides arn't there legal means to watch most shows you missed online? If you're only going to watch it once, why not watch the streaming version on the networks' website, and let them have their fair share of ad revenue? The economy is based on capitalism, if you don't support the companies that bring you the content, they'll just cancel the shows. And if you don't support capitalism, then you're a communist, and if you're a communist then the terrorists have won :shiftyninja:

Mentor

iZoom

Posted
Posted

Generalizing gets you nowhere. Simple because I stated my opinion doesn't in fact mean it applies to all situations.

Yes, a friend that owns Ironman and wants to watch it with me, yet I decline is a situation where I don't have the "right" to view it.

Same goes for internet radio. I can listen to free internet streams which are plentiful, however, I am not circumventing any measures

that are in place for subscription-based stations. I put up with the commercials on free internet radio and sit through the ads.

Community Regular

bunker

Posted
Posted
To me, there's a difference between whether something is illegal versus whether something is unethical.

1. Downloading TV shows available OTA: Illegal, but not unethical

2. Downloading TV shows available on cable channels you subscribe to: Illegal, but not unethical

3. Downloading TV shows available on cable channels you do not subscribe to: Illegal, somewhat unethical

At least, that's my opinion. For number 3, I feel that there's an exception if there is no way to purchase the show without purchasing the channel (e.g. True Blood episodes aren't available for purchase, so I'd have no problem downloading them).

There is no ethical police on the interwebz :p

btw, True Blood awesome. :cool:

Grand Master

Mathachew Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

I have no moral conviction downloading something like Heroes, Prison Break, or any other show that I would otherwise watch as it airs for the first time (for current seasons, not for past seasons). Almost every show I watch is available the next day on Hulu, so my only motivation to download the episodes would be to stream them to my 360 since PlayOn has been having Hulu issues for quite a while now, and I very likely won't be paying for the service once my trial has ended. Once I've watched the show, I no longer contain the file. Lost and The Office are an exception to that rule for differing reasons.

Grand Master

Xerxes

Posted
Posted

It's illegal plain and simple. Until recently in Australia it was illegal to even record a show off TV. I do it anyway because I want to see it now :p and waiting for it to air on Australian TV is just a waste of time (although Heroes Season 3 is airing here now so I'm just watching it on TV) and also I don't feel what I'm doing in stealing, as I plan to buy the DVD boxset away. It was what I've done in the past and what I will continue to do. However, the studios see it as revenue lose and treat those who do it as pirates....personally I don't see a problem, I buy it soon as it's released on DVD so it's not like they are losing a sale over it.

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