Stealing?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JC_Nixon
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

JC_Nixon

Guest
If you purchase a ‘movie on demand’ from you cable company, in our case, you pick the movie you want to see and they charge the $3.99 to your cable bill, you then have the movie available for viewing for 24 hours. The question has come up that if, during that 24 hour period you videotape the movie and then lend it to someone (or view it yourself again at a later date) is that stealing? Suppose you taped a movie that was on HBO and lent it to someone, is that stealing? I know ‘everybody does it’ but that doesn’t mean it is not stealing.

This situation came up today because we purchased a movie on demand for 24 hrs and thought it was real cute (Cheaper by the Dozen) and I wanted to tape it and share it with a co-worker, but my husband says it is stealing. At first I disagreed with him, but in thinking further, I think he may be right.

However, then the conversation turned to lending of books or DVD’s and VHS tapes that you have purchased. Again, he says that is stealing, but I think that is getting to the point of scrupulosity. His contention is you are denying the author or studio of their income if you lend a book or movie. For instance, you can go to a library and borrow a book, is that stealing?

Any (name removed by moderator)ut or clarification would be greatly appreciated!
 
For your own use, it isn’t. By sharing it outside your house, it coul be stealing copyright material. It is like having a music CD, but making a tape for you car it isn’t. On the other hand, if intended to tape it for your own use, and after the fact someone wants to borrow it that would be fine.
 
First let me say that i don’t know what everybody else does but I don’t…

Secondly, i would read the agreement you sign when you first sign up with the cable or satelite company… if you have lost it they will happily provide…

Thirdly… doing things with the justification of the “everybody else does it” defense is a reckless way to make decisions…

Good luck in your search for an answer… One other thought, if you sold movies for a living, would you want unauthorized customers copying your work without your knowledge or approval?

a thought :cool:
 
I will first approach it from the legal perspective, not the moral one.

Legally, if I own a legally purchased copy of a book, piece of art, statue, music CD, video DVD, videogame cartridge, etc. that copy is my property. I can watch it, view it, play it, or look at it as much as I want. I can lend my personal property to my friends if I want. (Do you want to borrow my Van Gogh for a couple of weeks?)

Just kidding on the Van Gogh, but that is exactly what museums are doing when they lend or borrow art work from other museums. We can do it too.

My friend is not allowed to illegally duplicate or copy my personal property except within the guidelines of “fair use”. For example, if I duplicate a complete DVD, that is illegal. However, if I xerox 2 relevant pages out of a 200 page book to keep in my research files, that is “fair use”, and legal.

It gets trickier with rentals or a license to use, versus a purchased copy. If I rent a movie for a 24 hour period, I haven’t purchased a copy of that movie for my own personal property. I have only purchased the right to view it for the 24 hour period. That is similar in principle to purchasing a software license that specifies you are only allowed to use it for 12 months. You can’t illegally duplicate the software and keep using it after month 12.

Where does that lead us to from a moral standpoint? The Church teaches we need to be good citizens and obey lawful rules established by legitimate government.

So, to get back to the husband question. He was right that it is stealing to duplicate a rented movie and give it to someone else. However, he was incorrect about lending a legitimate purchased copy. If you went to Blockbuster and purchased the actual DVD of Cheaper by the Dozen for the $20 or so, you can lend that out to friends with a clear conscience. But don’t rent it for $4.95, illegally copy it, and lend the illegal copy.
 
Thank you Bob, that was well said and truly affirms what my husband suggested and I suspected was correct. Makes perfect moral and legal sense! I guess a good rule of thumb to follow, if you are in doubt as to the legality or morality, don’t do it!
 
JC Nixon:
Thank you Bob, that was well said and truly affirms what my husband suggested and I suspected was correct. Makes perfect moral and legal sense! I guess a good rule of thumb to follow, if you are in doubt as to the legality or morality, don’t do it!
Click to expand...
I’ll echo JC, good post Bob! However, there is another option if you are in doubt as to the legality or morality of a civil issue (in this case copyright law and fair use provisions), ask! If you really want to know how the cable company feels, call customer service. They may be in shock for a few moments, because you will have been the first person to call them up to try and avoid *not * cheating them 👍 , but after that you’ll probably get a very curteous answer and know exactly where you stand in regards to creating a tape during your rental period.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top