DS9: Redefined 2.0 - The Ultimate DS9 Upscale Project

[kkt]

The copyright case that was decided when the library I worked at felt they had to take copyright for class use seriously was Basic Books vs. Kinkos decision 1991 and a series of decisions that followed from it. That the use of the copyright material was for an educational purpose did not excuse Kinko's copying significant passages of books without payment of royalties.

Kinko's was a nationwide chain of copy centers often located near college campuses, and instructors would ask them to assemble course packs made up of copies of chapters from various books for the students to buy. Some publishers posted royalty rates demanding payment of a certain amount per page if copies were made, and Kinko's ignored it depending on the "educational use" test to save them.

Basic Books, Inc. v. Kinko’s Graphics Corp.

Plaintiffs in this case, all major publishing houses, allegeded that Kinko's infringed their copyrights when they copied excerpts from books, whose rights were held by the plaintiffs, without ...

fairuse.stanford.edu

 

[Cryogenator]

The copyright case that was decided when the library I worked at felt they had to take copyright for class use seriously was Basic Books vs. Kinkos decision 1991 and a series of decisions that followed from it.

I thought that might be it. I recall that the practical result of this was that instructors simply went back to making the copies themselves. I received a significant amount of photocopied copyrighted material in packets handed out by my teachers from elementary in the late nineties through college in the early teens.

I also recall my mother, who was very against Napster and Kazaa and "all those illegal sites kids are using" going to Kinko's to copy copyrighted material. "Everybody does it," she said. It's always funny to see boomers who shared mixtapes and VCR recordings with each other and who went to Kinko's to copy books and magazines for noneducational purposes shaking their fists at digital piracy.

 

[evilchumlee]

Where might one... acquire these from?

 

[Cryogenator]

Where might one... acquire these from?

The blog just provides examples and instructions on how to do it yourself, either with DVDs (easy) or LaserDiscs (hard).

 

[fireproof78]

Now, you don't violate the law at all, right? By this, I mean you never watch old shows or movies from the fifties on YouTube which were never released on home media and can't be streamed, never once shared nor accepted a mixtape of copyrighted music or a VCR recording of a commercial broadcast with or from someone (or are now extremely remorseful for your past criminality if you did), never decrypt any copyrighted disc you own to create a personal backup or format-shifted copy, nor to bypass region locks? Never drive so much as a hair above the speed limit? And you're completely opposed to others doing any of this, too?

Correct.

 

[evilchumlee]

The blog just provides examples and instructions on how to do it yourself, either with DVDs (easy) or LaserDiscs (hard).

Ah that makes sense. There's no way i'm going to be able to obtain the laserdiscs, and they look so good. Damn it Paramount, just like, pay this guy to release these laser disc upscales.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Or pay some other guys to rescan the film and give us a proper HD version! If poor unloved CGI-heavy Babylon 5 can get a HD release any show can.

 

[fireproof78]

Maybe it's time for a change dot org petition.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

You do that, I'll continue to bitch about it on forums, and we'll see which of us has the most success.

 

[Cryogenator]

Correct.

What's wrong with format shifting, timeshifting, and archival for personal use of legitimate, legally owned material?

What's wrong with saving works from destruction?

 

[Cryogenator]

Or pay some other guys to rescan the film and give us a proper HD version! If poor unloved CGI-heavy Babylon 5 can get a HD release any show can.

Babylon 5 was only partially remastered. Instead of rescanning the negatives and creating new CGI as was done for The Original Series and The Next Generation, an old print was scanned, so it doesn't look as detailed as TOS and TNG, and any scene containing CGI was upscaled from SD tape. The remaster also introduced judder into the fully CGI scenes and returned to 4:3, whereas the DVDs are 16:9. The show was shot with widescreen protection, but the CGI was rendered in 4:3, and they chose not to crop the CGI scenes as on the DVDs nor have a variable aspect ratio. The Blu-ray set also received no new extras as well as no archival extras. It's a poor effort far below the quality of the remasters of the first two Star Trek series.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Everything I've read about the B5 remaster said that they did go back to the original negatives and the show was framed primarily for 4:3 so the aspect ratio is arguably a creative decision. But yeah they didn't redo the effects and it's clearly a less impressive result than the TNG remaster overall.

But it's way better than not having it at all! I've been rewatching the series in HD for the first time and it's great seeing it in a clarity it's never had before. If they gave DS9 and Voyager the same treatment it would be a disappointment compared to the amazing work they've done in the past, but it would get more people watching them in the present and help protect them for the future. And when they've found some extra cash they can still do a version with remade HD effects later on. They do love to make fans double dip.

 

[kkt]

I thought that might be it. I recall that the practical result of this was that instructors simply went back to making the copies themselves. I received a significant amount of photocopied copyrighted material in packets handed out by my teachers from elementary in the late nineties through college in the early teens.

I also recall my mother, who was very against Napster and Kazaa and "all those illegal sites kids are using" going to Kinko's to copy copyrighted material. "Everybody does it," she said. It's always funny to see boomers who shared mixtapes and VCR recordings with each other and who went to Kinko's to copy books and magazines for noneducational purposes shaking their fists at digital piracy.

Then the instructor was paying for the photocopies out of pocket?

Most of ours made a greater effort to find a textbook that had the material they needed, possibly supplementing by handing out their own notes. Or had packets of photocopies made up but paid the royalties through the copyright clearance center, so students paid for them as part of the price of the packet.

Much later, 2015+ or so, they shifted to putting notes online in a part of the campus network where access was restricted to the students in the class. Although it still arguably takes away potential sales to the students, it also makes it much harder for the publishers to ever find out there's copying going on.

The AG's office's number one job was keeping the university out of court, and they succeeded.

 

[Cryogenator]

Then the instructor was paying for the photocopies out of pocket?

They used the schools' copiers and no royalties were paid.

Most of ours made a greater effort to find a textbook that had the material they needed, possibly supplementing by handing out their own notes. Or had packets of photocopies made up but paid the royalties through the copyright clearance center, so students paid for them as part of the price of the packet.

Much later, 2015+ or so, they shifted to putting notes online in a part of the campus network where access was restricted to the students in the class. Although it still arguably takes away potential sales to the students, it also makes it much harder for the publishers to ever find out there's copying going on.

Smart!

 

[Cryogenator]

Everything I've read about the B5 remaster said that they did go back to the original negatives

An extremely obsessive Babylon 5 fan on Reddit was insistent that an old print was used instead of the negatives, but I guess not. The official story is that the negatives were used, but I don't think it looks as good as the Next Generation remaster, even when there's no CGI onscreen.

 

[fireproof78]

What's wrong with format shifting, timeshifting, and archival for personal use of legitimate, legally owned material?

What's wrong with saving works from destruction?

I don't talk about it in a public forum. If I need to archive something then I do it.

But, if works need saving then there are wonderful museums and such out there to do so.

 

[Firebird]

I don't talk about it in a public forum. If I need to archive something then I do it.

But, if works need saving then there are wonderful museums and such out there to do so.

Just recently, I saw an Instagram reel from the Library of Congress about a project of transferring and preserving laserdiscs.

 

[Cryogenator]

I don't talk about it in a public forum. If I need to archive something then I do it.

Ah, so you are an occasional lawbreaker!

 

[fireproof78]

Ah, so you are an occasional lawbreaker!

Let's see...last time I did that was probably 20 years ago, so yes, on the occasional.

 

[Tomalak]

An extremely obsessive Babylon 5 fan on Reddit was insistent that an old print was used instead of the negatives, but I guess not. The official story is that the negatives were used, but I don't think it looks as good as the Next Generation remaster, even when there's no CGI onscreen.

What would the "old print" be in this case? I don't think they were assembling workprints by this point, all the editing was on tape.