Downloading TV shows

[DanCPA]

Given Real Player has a nice feature that integrates into your non-Firefox Beta 3 web browsers to download videos... Is it still illegal to download streaming content?

I will admit that I downloaded today's BSG episode. Second time I saw it was this morning when it aired... I've rewatched it once today.

I realize that downloading copyrighted content is illegal, but isn't it like using your dvr at home? or an old VHS?

 

[Mr. B]

Practically speaking you could get a digital copy with a cable subscription and a computer, so the end result is the same. However, copyright holders are entitled to determine how their content is distributed and bittorrent ain't one of the ways they chose.

 

[DanCPA]

And I am not discussing sharing the item I made with the public on torrent or youtube.

I might make a copy and send it to my friend...

 

[darkshadow0001]

I thought talking about such things was banned from this forum ages ago?

 

[DanCPA]

I'm pretty sure what is illegal is to say "Go to this site" or "download this program"

 

[ALF]

I'm pretty sure what is illegal is to say "Go to this site" or "download this program"

Pig latin okay?
Ownload-Day?

 

[Trekker4747]

I realize that downloading copyrighted content is illegal, but isn't it like using your dvr at home? or an old VHS?

Not entirely. The people putting it up are breaking the law/copyright by mass-distrubting the work on-line. And by extension of that you're breaking the law/copyright by taking advantage of it.

It's sort of like being in posession of a stolen good.

It's completely different if I record a show of the TV and then lend you the tape; than if I record the show, make multiple copies of it, and then hand them out to people.

 

[Small White Car]

Given Real Player has a nice feature that integrates into your non-Firefox Beta 3 web browsers to download videos... Is it still illegal to download streaming content?

It was never illegal to "download streaming content."

It all comes down to what you got and where you got it from. In your BSG example, no, that's not something that's legal since they only place it's legally available online at the moment is on the actual sci-fi web page.

 

[The Evil Dead]

I used to download a lot of things (music, comics, video games, TV shows, movies... if it could be digitized, I'd download it) while I was in college, but since I graduated a year ago and have been working, I've been paying for more things, primarily the stuff I really like.

I do still download LOST and Battlestar Galactica, but that's because I like to rewatch certain scenes and downloading is my best option until the DVDs are released. I don't think it's such a big deal to download the latest episode of a TV show, but I would urge anyone who truly loves a program to pay for the content eventually, if only as a way of saying thanks to the people who brought you the entertainment and to ensure the stuff you enjoy keeps getting made.

 

[DanCPA]

Given Real Player has a nice feature that integrates into your non-Firefox Beta 3 web browsers to download videos... Is it still illegal to download streaming content?

It was never illegal to "download streaming content."

It all comes down to what you got and where you got it from. In your BSG example, no, that's not something that's legal since they only place it's legally available online at the moment is on the actual sci-fi web page.

That's what I thought...

Muchas gracias

If a mod could wrap this puppy up

 

[Dar70]

Go to www.Hulu.com Its a nice legal site that lets you view some movies and usually the first season of a tv show. You can only view of course no downloading or copying. Nice place to go though to see some old shows that havent been on tv in awhile as well as some movies. Better than wasting money on dvds. Takes about 2 weeks though to get registered.

 

[Starbreaker]

Hulu is open to the public now, actually.

 

[bigdaddy]

I was thinking. I have several BSG episodes (the ones I like) on VHS, so why can't I download the episodes and save them to DVD? It would be like if I had a DVD burner and just switched things over.

 

[Cicero]

I realize that downloading copyrighted content is illegal, but isn't it like using your dvr at home? or an old VHS?

Not entirely. The people putting it up are breaking the law/copyright by mass-distrubting the work on-line. And by extension of that you're breaking the law/copyright by taking advantage of it.

It's sort of like being in posession of a stolen good.

Legally speaking, it isn't. Generally speaking (there are issues of illegally tapping into streams under this title) copyright law punishes only those who create a new copy (or copies) and those who knowingly import illegally created copies into the United States; those who receive a copy or view a stream in progress are not guilty of a crime.

(This is to my understanding of copyright law, which comes from careful reading of both the law and a number of cases and non-judicial legal opinions, but does not constitute legal advice and should not be taken as such.)

 

[jkladis]

I'm pretty sure the copyright laws you're made to read are pretty express on the fact that it is illegal. Enforcement may be the gray area as ignorance can sometimes be bliss.

But the initial question was answered with OP's request to close. So say I me.